Under the Dragon Moon
by I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi
Summary: In the dead of night, under cover of darkness, her village was attacked. She's been living in the village hidden in the leaf for many years; the tragic past of her former village forgotten... or so she thought.NxT OCxOC.
1. Going Back

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Yes, I have started a new multi-chapter story... which means, my oneshot collection(s) is(are) on hold for the time being... I'll still post from time to time, but for the most part (as I always do with multi-chapter stories) this will be my priority. I'm a little swamped with school and a bunch of other stuff right now, but I promise I'll update as soon as possible...

**DEDICATION**: I'd like to thank everyone who voted in the polls to help me decide on how to proceed with this story. I dedicate this story to all of you; especially to **fmorgana** for all her help and allowing me to bounce around a lot of the ideas that are going into this story.

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_GOING BACK  
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_Screaming._

_Everywhere around her, the cherub-faced little girl could hear faint and distant screams; coming from nowhere in particular, but surrounding her nonetheless. She knew they were not real; knew they were not happening in the present. _

_Only…_

_They _were_ real; and they _would_ be happening. Happening soon… very soon._

_Thunder shattered the silent twilight; sending tremors of fear down her tiny body. Small tears began forming at the corners of her eyes, as she saw the slender form of the priestess rushing into her room. A worried expression hidden within the woman's emerald eyes disclosed to the girl that something was terribly wrong. _

_The woman standing before her never showed emotions. To see her so anxious only further added to the young girl's concern._

_"What-"_

_"Shhh." The emerald eyed woman silenced the girl._

_Pulling her out of bed quickly, the woman took the young girl out into the hall. "Stay quiet." She instructed in a small whisper. _

_Together, they swiftly sped through the corridors of the large estate. In the stillness of the night, with little more than the occasional flash of lightning to illuminate the way, they quietly rushed through the halls until they reached a familiar bedroom door. The woman swiftly pulled the girl in; closing the sliding door behind them._

_As she stood in the center of the sparsely decorated room; waiting patiently for the priestess to conduct whatever business she had in the room, the little girl's eyes followed a shadow flittering on the interior wall that separated this room from the master bedroom._

_From the other side of the wall, where the master slept; she could hear the screaming start up again. It wasn't real either, but she knew it was closer than before._

_"Maki!" The emerald eyed priestess called out to the girl; breaking her from her trance. "Here." The woman whispered as she handed the girl a small bundle of what appeared to be blankets._

_She didn't realize at first what it was the woman had given her; but when the bundle began to wiggle in her arms, the girl knew…_

_And she knew what it meant._

_"Why?" The little girl desperately questioned, as she looked upon the bundle she'd been given; a burden much too heavy for her tiny arms to carry._

_"Can you not hear what is coming?" The woman gravely replied._

_It wasn't a question. She knew the priestess knew about the screaming; they could both hear it. And they knew there was no way to stop it._

_"…" The girl looked down at the bundle; unsure of whether she could really do what was being asked of her. _

_In her short years of life, she had proven her self time and again to be strong and intelligent beyond her years. She was responsible and hardworking, and the pride of her clan. By many, she had already been deemed the strongest to have ever been born to the Getsuei clan. (**1**) And all this, she had accomplished at the tender age of eight. But that was just it; she was eight. A child; not much older than the infant girl she held bundled up in her arms. How could she possibly be expected to take care of them both?_

_"Leave now and you should fine." The emerald eyed woman whispered, as she began opening a small wooden panel along the exterior bedroom wall. _

_"But-" The girl began to protest, as the woman guided her and the infant toward the exit. _

_Why was it she had to go alone? If they all left, wouldn't they all be saved?_

_"Keep low, and to the shadows." The priestess instructed. "Be silent and quick." Were her final instructions, before handing the girl a small bag of provisions, as she came toward the opening._

_"I-" Tears began welling up in the girl's eyes, as she stood, staring at the secret door; terrified of what lay far beyond that wooden panel. "I…I ca-"_

_"You must!" The emerald-eyed priestess scolded, before the girl could even put to words the fear she harbored. "It is the duty of the Getsuei clan. Your duty." _

_"But…" The girl fought back the tears._

_"You must." The woman repeated; though in a much softer tone than she had previously used. _

_"…" Reluctantly, the girl nodded. _

_Yes; it was her duty. Though she was just over eight years of age, she was already well educated in the ways of her clan. There was, of course, still much for her learn and experience, but the most important of duties that the Getsuei clan held, was to serve the infant girl she held in her arms. The Hiryuu clan was to be protected. It was her duty. (**2**)_

_Seeing the resolve in the little girl's eyes, the priestess handed her one last small memento; the teardrop emerald heirloom that hung around her neck. "Be safe." She whispered solemnly, before placing the necklace around the girl's neck and then planting a soft kiss on her forehead._

_In that moment, as the priestess helped the two young girls climb out through the secret panel, time seemed to stand still. An icy chill ran up the little girl's spin; and then the screaming started._

_Distant, but close. And this time, it was real..._

_.:..:..:..:..:.:..:..:.._

"Aha!" Himakai jolted upright; gasping for breath. There were tears brimming at her eyes, as her left hand jerked up to feel for the emerald hanging loosely against her bare skin, beneath the black ANBU shirt she wore.

"Bad dream?" The unruly-haired ANBU tending to the small fire quietly questioned from a across the flames. For a moment she found herself lost in the flicker of the fire's light coloring the intense, yet warm, features of his face; his ANBU mask, sitting besides her own, having been discarded for the night.

"Huh?" Himakai stared questioningly at her mission partner.

At first, she was surprised to see him sitting closer to her than he had been when she'd fallen asleep, but at the same time, Himakai knew she really shouldn't have been. "Hai." She nodded; still tracing her fingers around the teardrop jewel she wore under her clothes.

Though it had been nearly sixteen years since, Himakai could still remember the night she received her necklace. It was the most terrifying experience of her life. The screaming she heard as she escaped the estate; the sights she saw of men, women, and children all being brutally slaughtered. The fire...

She could still see and hear it all vividly in her memory; though she tried so desperately to forget...

The one thing, she couldn't remember, though, was how she managed to get herself and the infant girl out. But somehow she had. They had made it out of the land of the estate and into the forest; slipping carefully through the cracks of the terrifying foe that laid siege to their home. But it hadn't ended there for the two girls. They had been followed, and if it weren't for the lone Konoha ANBU operative who had (according to him) smelled the scent of blood from miles away, and who had decided, on a whim, to investigate, Himakai and the infant would have died that night.

"…" She wanted to cry. Just remembering that night sent tremors coursing through her body. "Mother." Himakai whispered softly; clutching her fist over the covered jewel she wore.

"Was it the one where rabid bunnies try to chase you down a hole?" Ijinu jokingly asked; attempting to ease the sudden tension that had enveloped their small campsite. (**4**) "I hate that one." He stated with a serious expression.

Turning to face him better, she saw the concern in his eyes. Himakai knew he wanted to ask her to share her pain with him, but as always, out of respect for her and her secrets; of which he knew she had many, Ijinu allowed her the liberty of one more.

"ha." Himakai smiled; grateful to the feral-eyed man's understanding nature.

It was so like him. Ever since Himakai first met Ijinu in the academy, he had always been looking out for others. Like the rest of his clan, he embodied the very essence of loyalty and true camaraderie. He was kind and gentle, and always protective of those he cherished most.

"Don't laugh." He pouted. "Those things can be brutal. With their giant teeth… bet they could chew into a person's thigh and bite off a chuck."

"You have strange fears for an Inuzuka." Himakai smiled gently at the widely grinning shinobi. "Aren't dogs usually the ones who are supposed to chance bunnies?" She uncharacteristically teased; playing along with his intent to change the subject.

"Hey, we live in a progressive society." Ijinu's grin widened; creasing the red fangs on his cheeks, where his dimples indented in."Nothing wrong with a bunny chasing a dog every once in a while." He smirked. "Different kind of bunny of course." He mumbled as way of explanation on the complete turn about from his previous mock-fear of bunnies.

"haha." Himakai laughed softly; she was feeling much better now.

"Just something to keep in mind when we're back in the village." He smirked playfully.

Himakai smiled; relishing in the thought of their return. To the end of their long and arduous mission.

Yes, soon she would be back. Back to the village that had taken her in; the village she now called home. Back to the girl who knew nothing of their past; and who, with any luck, never would...

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_TBC…  
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_**(**1**) Getsuei means MOON.  
(**2**) Hiryuu means FLYING DRAGON  
(**3**) Himakai means HELLFIRE  
(**4**) Ijinu means DEVIL DOG

**A/N**: eeh... not so sure about the ending... but the over all chapter I liked... the beginning of the chapter I REALLY liked... explanations as to who the character are (if you haven't already read my dA journal) will become clear as the stories goes on... so no worries.. and yes this is a NejiTen (like almost all my stories ;P), so no worries, the Nejiten-ness will appear soon enough...

**please leave feedback, thanks ;)**


	2. Reunions

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: As much as I love scenes were all the Konoha 11 are present… they're really not easy to do… too many people at once; it's hard to balance them all without really ignoring some of them while still trying to focus on just one thing at a time… *sigh*… that said, hope you enjoy this new chapter.

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**REUNIONS  
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Pallid white eyes watched as the excited bun-haired girl threw off her rain coat; hastily hanging it on one of the hooks at the entrance of the restaurant where the rest of their group had already begun to arrive. The bright, beaming, smile on the kunoichi's face was in stark contrast to the dismal weather on the other side of the door, situated directly behind her.

"eee!" Tenten uncharacteristically squealed upon seeing the group already gathered at the table.

Neji wondered what it could be that had garnered such a reaction from the bun-haired kunoichi. To his knowledge, nothing before had ever made that kind of sound escape her lips; other than the discovery of a new weapon of course. But he doubted that was the case this time. Their team had just arrived from their last mission three days ago and he knew she hadn't found any new weapons on their travels; and Tenten already owned every different type of weapon made in Konoha.

"Hn." Neji half smiled as he saw her eagerly run toward their table at the back of the eatery; skillfully weaving past tables, waiters, and restaurant patrons with little effort.

His smile just about fell, however, when he witnessed the kunoichi, all too enthusiastically, throw her arms around the equally surprised shinobi sitting directly in front of Neji.

"eh…Tenten?" Kiba bewilderedly stared at the kunoichi; nervously shifting his gaze between the bun-haired girl and the glaring eyes that watched him.

The rest of their group, including the two girls that had just entered the restaurant a few moments after Tenten, stood in complete and utter silence; too shocked by the scene before them to really know what to do.

"Kiba!" Tenten loosened her grip on the boy, to pull something out of her pocket. "Look, look!" She squealed again, before shoving what appeared to be a piece of paper, in front of the Inuzuka's face.

"…" Kiba took the paper from the girl; remaining silent for a moment, as he quickly read the contents of it. "Oh my god…" He stared at the paper, as if he didn't believe what was written on it, before eventually lifting his gaze back up to the bun-haired kunoichi; who, much to Neji's pleasure, had at this point, at least removed her arms from around the fang-marked shinobi. "When did you get this?" Kiba asked; excitement clearly evident in the young man's piercing black eyes, as well as the beaming smile growing on his face.

"It arrived during my last mission." Tenten replied; her own eyes matching the excitement in the Inuzuka's. "But I just read it today with the last of my mail."

"…" Kiba slowly nodded. His smile fading as he stared off into the distance as if contemplated something. "I gotta tell my Ma." He said after a few moments.

"Yeah, she should be really happy." Tenten nodded; the smile on her face still firmly planted.

"Yeah." Kiba agreed; his smile quickly returning as he thought about it. "I can't believe it…"

"Enough already!" The slightly agitated voice of a certain blond kunoichi finally interrupted the pair's private moment.

For once, Neji was grateful to hear Ino's voice speak up. He, along with the rest of their group, had been silently observing Tenten and Kiba's quick little exchange for the past few minutes. It had annoyed him to see the two of them getting along so well, but for some reason, it truly bothered Neji to realize that there was something between the two of them that he didn't know about.

"What _are_ you two going on about?" Ino's shrieking voice demanded.

"Oh." Tenten turned to face the rest of the group; as if just now remembering that they were supposed to all meet there for lunch. "Um…" she looked back and forth between the letter and Kiba; nervously chewing on her lower lip as if she was thinking about whether or not to answer.

"Oh, come on!" Kiba threw his head back disbelievingly.

"What?" Sakura questioned; eyeing the two of them curiously.

"Tch." Kiba scoffed; rolling his eyes playfully. "Tenten's just ridiculously superstitious." He replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chouji asked; setting his menu down, having finally decided what it was he would order.

"It's just…" Tenten hesitated. For some reason, Neji noticed she seemed to be avoiding looking at him.

"She doesn't like talking about people who are on a mission because she thinks its bad luck." Kiba explained.

Observing the kunoichi's reaction, Neji noted that she was still chewing on her lower lip; a nervous habit she had had since even before he'd met her. Neji knew that what the Inuzuka was saying was true, but he also knew it wasn't something that was well known. Everyone knew Tenten was superstitious, but of the few things Neji had learned that she was superstitious about, he had only discovered them through diligent observation; as she was not the type who easily disclosed such things. It slightly unnerved Neji to think that Kiba would also have known something like that; he had never realized that Kiba knew the girl so well.

When had they become so close?

"But that doesn't even matter." Kiba turned to the bun-haired girl. "Since the mission is technically already over…"

"Just tell us already!" Naruto roared from his seat next to the pink haired kunoichi.

Neji wondered if it was really because Naruto wanted to know, or if (as he more strongly assumed), it was merely because the blond loud-mouth wanted to get it over with so he could get to eating the ramen he had ordered a few minutes before Tenten's arrival.

"…" Kiba turned back towards the bun-haired girl; remaining silent as he waited on Tenten. "So?..."

"Okay, fine." Tenten sighed, before turning back to face the rest of them. "For the past five years…" She began; pausing to think about how long that really was. "Since before the first chunin exams, actually." She paused again to allow her friends to realize this meant it was before she had even met the majority of them. "I've been living on my own."

"I remember." Sakura nodded from beside her blond teammate. "You mentioned once that your parents passed away when you were young."

"Yeah." Tenten agreed.

There was a shadow of sadness in her eyes, but it wasn't sadness over the loss of her parents. Neji knew the story, and he knew that they had died long before she could even have memory of them; thus she didn't really have as great a feel of loss toward the memory of her parents, as most would imagine. Nonetheless, he knew, from limited observation, that she still felt the sadness of loneliness when thinking of them.

"So you're an orphan like me?" Naruto asked; apparently having never heard about Tenten's past before.

"Weren't you listening?" Shikamaru scoffed, before Tenten could answer. "She said five years."

"Huh?" Naruto stared over at the lazy shinobi in confusion; apparently not understanding the significance of the fact that Tenten's parent's having died when she was a baby, and her previous statement about having only begun to live alone five years ago, meant she obviously wasn't completely without guardianship, like him.

"I have a sister." Tenten clarified for the clueless blond, before his brain imploded from thinking too hard.

"Oh." Naruto responded. "Wait, you do?"

The rest of their group, with the noticeable exception of Kiba, also turned to face Tenten questioningly. As Neji observed Tenten, still standing uncomfortably close to the Inuzuka, an unfamiliar fire began growing in the pit of Neji's stomach. He wasn't sure what surprised him more: the fact that Tenten had a sister he'd never even heard of, or the fact that Kiba obviously had.

"And Kiba-san knew?" Shino pointedly asked; obviously having noted the same signs as Neji (and no doubt, Shikamaru) had.

"Ah?" Tenten turned to face the normally silent bug-wielder. "Yeah" she nodded.

"Oh yeah, I've known her since…" Kiba turned to face upward; concentrating on the ceiling tiles as he thought about his answer.

"Since you were three." Tenten replied for him.

"Really?" Kiba turned down towards her; scratching the back of his head disbelievingly.

"Yeah." Tenten nodded. "Remember what happened the day after you met her?"

"…" Kiba's brow creased as he tried remembering. "Oh yeah." He nodded firmly. "That's the day Akamaru and I met you, after we searched the whole village for her."

"Huh? Why'd you do that?" Naruto asked curiously; eyeing the kitchen door now and then to see if his ramen was coming yet.

"Because he thought she was pretty." Tenten again replied for the fang-faced boy.

"She was…" Kiba smiled dreamily; his eyes glazing over as he stared off into the distance.

"So wait, you two have known each other since you were kids?" Ino disbelievingly asked the very same question that had begun nagging at Neji's imagination.

"Yeah." Tenten nodded.

"Pretty much." Kiba agreed.

"Then why is this the first time we are learning about all this Tenten-san?" Lee, who had been surprisingly silent this whole time, asked from beside the white-eyed prodigy. From the despairing look in his eyes, Neji could tell Lee was feeling the same sting of betrayal that the Hyuga was feeling at the moment.

"Because she's ridiculously superstitious." Kiba repeated his earlier assertion.

Tenten turned back toward the Inuzuka; a slightly offended look colored her pretty face. "I just don't think it's lucky to talk about people when they're away on dangerous missions." The kunoichi defended herself.

"Whatever." Kiba rolled his eyes, before slouching back in his chair, away from the girl.

"Ano…" Hinata timidly began from besides the Inuzuka. "Kiba-kun?"

"Yeah Hinata?" Kiba tilted his head back to look at the blue-haired heiress.

"If the letter Tenten-san showed you is about her sister's return," Hinata began; having apparently come to the same question as Neji had. "Why would you have to tell your mother?" She shyly inquired.

"Oh, that!" Kiba realized that he and Tenten had not yet full disclosed their actual connection to one another. "That's because if Tenten's sister is coming home, it means my big brother, who is her teammate, is also coming home." He smiled broadly; all too happy to answer the timid girl's question.

"Wait!" Naruto called out again; at this point completely forgetting about his ramen, as the conversation was beginning to peak his curiosity. "You've got an older brother?"

"…" Kiba stared incredulously at his blond friend. "You've met him."

"I have?" Naruto disbelievingly replied.

"He- he gave a guest lecture at the academy when we were students." Hinata softly responded; having immediately remembered the older shinobi Kiba had mentioned.

"He did?" Naruto continued to ask; puzzled as to why he couldn't remember.

"Even I remember." Shikamaru scoffed, before yawning and then crossing his arms over the table to rest his head on. The whole conversation was beginning to become a bore to him.

"Yeah, and Shikamaru was asleep through most of the lecture." Chouji added from besides his lazy best friend.

"Eh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side curiously. "Maybe I was too." He wondered aloud as he scratched his chin pensively.

"Or playing hooky." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"What, you remember him too?" Naruto turned toward his female teammate.

"Sure she does!" Ino smirked wickedly from beside the pink-haired medic. "She nearly fainted when he walked into the class room." The blond kunoichi teased her friend.

"Haah!" Sakura gasped; attempting to hide the flush rising on her face. "So did you!" The cherry-blossom accusingly pointed at her blond best friend.

"Huh?" Naruto turned back and forth between the two girls. "Why?"

"He arrived with a rather large dog." Shino unceremoniously explained from across the table.

"Haha." Kiba chuckled. "Yeah, Hanyo has that effect on people." (**1**)

"Hanyo?" Naruto repeated; wondering if that was Kiba's brother's name.

"My bro's dog." Kiba clarified. "This monstrous, big, black nin-dog. Honestly, Hanyo couldn't be scarier if he had three heads instead of one. He's a beast." Kiba paused as he watched Naruto visibly shrink at whatever image of the dog he had conjured up in his mind. "But he's _nothing_ compared to my demon big brother." Kiba warned.

"Demon?" Naruto nervously questioned.

"He _was_ kind of scary." Sakura nodded from besides the blond boy.

"And hot!" Ino added, with a smirk on her face.

"But scary." Sakura repeated.

"He isn't _that_ scary." Tenten, who, along with the others, had been quietly listening to Kiba and Naruto's conversation, added from besides the younger Inuzuka. "He's actually pretty nice." She defended the older Inuzuka.

"Ha!" Kiba scoffed; apparently disagreeing with the bun-haired kunoichi. "He's evil!"

"Evil?" Naruto and Lee, who had also never met Kiba's older brother, repeated.

"A demon!" Kiba nodded. "He's vicious and cruel, and has the worst temper ever. He'll pretend to be nice and friendly, but deep down, he's a violent, ill-tempered, sadistic-"

_BAM_

A loud, bone-breaking crunch stilled the group, as Kiba was left unable to finish what he had been saying. One large, pale, seemingly clawed hand held the sixteen year old Inuzuka's head crushed against the table that, moments earlier, he had been calmly sitting in front of; but, which now, he all but permanently wore on his face.

"I'm a _what_ now?" The owner of the clawed-hand holding Kiba's head, growled at the Inuzuka; a pair of piercing black eyes glared down at the younger shinobi as the older man slowly (though none to gently), removed the muddy boot he had used to push the younger boy down with. "Is that any way to talk about someone you haven't seen in five years?"

"You." Kiba growled as the older man released his clenched hand from the back of his head. "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true." Kiba barked as he turned to eye the older man.

From the fang marks on the man's face, Neji deduced this man had to be the very same brother Kiba had, moments earlier, been describing for Naruto.

Kiba and the girl's had not been lying. While the older man standing behind the younger Inuzuka had many of the same physical traits as Kiba, (enough for Neji to recognize they were indeed siblings), the man was also quite different from his younger brother. Wild and unkempt brown hair was clearly a family trait, but for some reason on the older Inuzuka, it seemed almost as if the hair was purposefully that way. It added to the feral look in the older man's eyes; eyes that were twice as sharp as Kiba's, and with a menacing (almost bloody), glow to them. The canine fangs in the older man's mouth, seemed permanently perturbing, in the Inuzuka transformed-beast state that Neji usually only saw on Kiba when he was in battle form. In addition to the man's unusually pale skin (a complete contrast to Kiba's tanned flesh), the sharp, pointy teeth almost made him appear vampire-like. All that put together, Neji would definitely see why Kiba had referred to his older brother as being demon-like.

"Hn." The older man smirk; roughly whacking the back of his younger brother's head. "At least you've got guts kid."

"Ow." Kiba rubbed the back of his head; forgetting, for the moment, that the front of his head was still bleeding from the earlier assault.

It dawned on Neji at that moment, that if the man standing before them was in fact Kiba's older brother, that meant…

He turned his pallid white eyes over toward the restaurant entrance; stopping when he spotted a heavily covered figure hanging a drenched and mud-splashed rain coat near the coat that Tenten had earlier hastily hooked onto the wall. The figure then slowly began removing a second and then third coat; placing them at a safe distance from the previous one, so as not to soil the two cleaner coats. The woman, as Neji had already suspected, then removed what appeared to be a knitted cap off of her head. Long, sleek black hair, cascaded down the woman's back as she removed her hat. Then slowly, she turned.

A collective gasp escaped all those gathered in the restaurant, as the face, of, what Neji could only describe to be, an angel, looked out into the crowded room. She walked slowly and deliberately, through the stilled restaurant; ignoring all those who called out to her, as she made her way toward the group at the other end of the room.

"Tenten." The older woman addressed the bun-haired kunoichi.

"…" Tenten stood to her feet; awed and beaming at seeing the woman standing before her. "Haah." She gasped joyously, before tearfully throwing her arms around the black-haired woman. "Himakai!"

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**_**TBC  
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**_FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Hanyo means half-human/half-demon.

**A/N**: Like how I never mention it was Ijinu and Himakai until the very last word?... lol… I did that on purpose, even though it should have been obvious who they were talking about… still… for anyone who may have missed it, Ijinu is Kiba's older brother (didn't you just LOVE his entrance…hehehe), and Himakai is Tenten's older sister (though, obviously from chapter 1, we know they're not really related).

Please be sure to check out the fanart I made for Ijinu and Himakai on my dA account (profiles for them will be up in a few days)


	3. Introductions

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Sorry for the wait… I was having a little trouble with Himakai's personality… wasn't quite sure what to do with it yet (which will be rather evident in this chapter seeing as how I still don't show much of her personality… but we get to see plenty of Ijinu's… oh and next chapter will so totally be NejiTen! I promise… just setting up the story… ) And no, before anyone else asks, Neji is NOT going to be falling for the older sister… this chapter just happens to be entirely in his POV, so I kind of had to play with him and still use him for describing the character… Anyway, enjoy and

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**INTRODUCTIONS  
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"Everyone," Tenten released her arms from around the raven-haired woman and turned to face her friends. "I'd like to introduce you to my sister Himakai." She smiled broadly as the woman in questioned turned to meet the eyes of the group seated around the large banquet table.

Neji sat across from them, transfixed as he carefully observed the two sister's exchange a knowing look after turning to observing the two bickering Inuzuka men. Himakai's crystal clear blue eyes then turned straight towards the Hyuga. Their eyes locked. For a moment, Neji thought he saw a smile spread across her face, before she turned back toward Tenten.

"And apparently most of you have already met Ijinu." The bun-haired kunoichi gestured over toward the intimidating man who had, moments earlier, slammed the face of his younger brother into the solid wood table. In his eyes, Neji could see the man studying Tenten; he had noticed that the older man had been watching her for the past few minutes since the two sisters had begun their embrace. That bothered Neji, just as it had bothered him earlier when Tenten had run into the restaurant and hugged Kiba.

"No…" Ijinu disbelievingly looked the bun-haired kunoichi up and down; slowly moving over to where she was standing. "It couldn't be…" He stared at the kunoichi with wide-eyed fascination. "Cute little Tennie-chan?" A wide, deep smile slowly spread across the man's face as Ijinu walked over to give the girl a hug.

Every nerve in Neji's body stiffened at the man's obvious desire to wrap his arms around the girl. Before the older man could get within an inch of the weapon's mistress, however, Tenten's sister elegantly maneuvered her way between the two.

"Hime?" Ijinu questioned the woman with his eyes. His head cocked to the side as he looked at the blue-eyed woman. (**1**)

"You're filthy." Himakai's voice was a smooth as velvet as she whispered to the feral-eyed man. "I would prefer you did not soil her." She gently explained.

Neji was amazed at the softness of her voice; sweet and melodic in its sound. Yet, at the same time, he could clearly hear strength and confidence in her delicate tone. The words she spoke, though harsh and perhaps arguably rude, did not at all seem insulting coming from her.

"Hn?" Ijinu furrowed his brow in confusion. He looked down to his shirt and open coat, to see the mixture of fresh blood and dried mud caked on him. "Oh yeah." He smirked upon realizing what he had been about to do. "But I can't believe it." The elder Inuzuka chuckled as he once more began approaching the kunoichi; this time without the intent to embrace her. "Look at you." He used his right hand to cup Tenten's chin and lift her head up to face him. "You've grown into quite a beauty, haven't you Tennie-chan?"

"…" A deep crimson blush quickly colored the girl's cheeks, as she took her chin off the older man's hand, and turned to face away from him.

Neji tired not to smile. Though it irked him that the man had not only said those words, but that he had touched Tenten, Neji couldn't disagree with what Ijinu had said. She _was_ beautiful. He had always thought so. But Neji didn't quite appreciate knowing that others thought that as well; least of all that someone would vocalize that opinion aloud before he'd had the opportunity to do so himself.

For years, the two teammates had been dancing around their feelings for one another; pretending that there was nothing between them other than comradely and friendship. Lying to themselves that whatever they might feel was temporary; a fleeting fancy that would eventually fade, and thus not worth destroying a friendship for. But Neji had long ago realized that was not the truth. He had been planning on confessing to her soon; telling her that his feelings were not just those of a friend. He wanted to tell her that he liked her. That he thought she was great. That he thought she was beautiful. But he'd been beaten to it. And it angered him.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect any less from my Hime's baby sister." Ijinu smiled broadly, as he turned toward his right, where Himakai was tenderly smiling back at the two; having taken a step back to allow Ijinu to stand in front of Tenten.

With a single stride, the man maneuvered himself behind the angelic looking woman; gently guiding his right arm around the woman's torso and wrapping it around her waist. "Oi! Pup!" Ijinu yelled over toward the bloody Kiba; who was holding his hands to his nose, endeavoring to stop the blood.

From the look in his moistening eyes, Neji could tell the younger Inuzuka was trying hard not to show how much it really hurt.

"Make sure you keep your filthy paws off Hime's little sister, or I'll give you a few broken ribs to match that nose!" Ijinu warned; emphasizing his statement with a deadly glare.

"Tch." Kiba scoffed; slightly flinching in the process. "You do realize you're supposed to be _my_ brother right?"

"Tch." Ijinu softened his glare; but only slightly. "What's your point?" He bluntly asked.

"Grr." Kiba growled; anger clearly evident in his pained eyes.

"Besides," Ijinu turned back towards Tenten, and gently slipping away from Himakai. "You say that, but younger siblings are supposed to respect their older siblings. They're supposed to be sweet and kind, and cute." He turned back toward his younger brother. "You're not cute at all." Placing his right hand over the bun-haired girl's head, as he turned back toward Tenten, Ijinu playfully ruffled her hair. "I would have much rather preferred a cute little sister like Tenten instead of the rude little brother I got."

"Yeah well," Kiba began. "I would have preferred - ow -" He was interrupted by Himakai, as she held her left hand out to touch his nose; Kiba's hands still covered it.

Even without his Byakugan activated, Neji could tell the boy's nose had been broken when his older brother pushed his face into the solid oak table. In the short time they had been talking, the area around Kiba's nose had swollen considerably. Blood was still pouring down the younger man's chin, as Kiba tried to hold back his tears from the sheer pain of it all.

"Let me take a look at it." Himakai instructed the younger Inuzuka to remove his hand.

"Aah…" Kiba nervously removed his hands from his nose; blood still gushing down his face as he looked, transfixed, into the older woman's eyes.

"It isn't that bad." Himakai softly whispered her observation.

Droplets of blood stained the long white sleeves of her shirt as Himakai placed her hands over the injury. With her eyes closed, she leaned in; pressing her forehead to Kiba's. Neji couldn't tell for sure, even sitting directly across the table from them, but it seemed as if she was healing him. A soft, violet glow radiated around the woman. Kiba, who, at first, had seemed weary of the close proximity, began to look dazed and tired. His eyes fluttered slowly, as if falling into a deep slumber. For a moment, as he watched all this unfold before him, with intense scrutiny, Neji began feeling his own eyes growing tired, as a faint humming feeling surrounded him; enveloping him into a sweet stillness.

And just as quickly it began, the feeling disappeared. Himakai removed her hands from the younger Inuzuka's nose. With his mind now cleared, Neji stared intently; observing the woman as she slowly opened her eyes, bring her right hand up to her face. For an instant, Neji was certain he had seen a small trail of blood dripping from Himakai's own nose before she quickly wiped it away on her already blood stained sleeve.

"Hime…" Ijinu swiftly moved to stand behind Himakai; gently turning her around to face him. Leaning down to press his forehead on hers, just as she had just done with Kiba moments earlier. "I'm sorry." Ijinu softly whispered, before wrapping his arms around the raven-haired beauty; completely uncaring of the early concern about the mud and blood caked on his shirt and coat.

Turning his gaze away from the couple and toward Kiba, Neji noticed that the swelling had subdued, and the bleeding had stopped. The pain in the dog-boy's eyes was also disappeared. If he hadn't known any better, Neji would have believed nothing had happened to Kiba at all. But he _did_ know better. And he was _positive_ that, not only had his nose been injured, but in fact, the bone had been broken…

"Hey!" Ino excitedly jumped out of her seat. "What just happened?" She demanded; anxiously shifting her eyes between the two older shinobi and Kiba.

"…" Everyone's attention turned toward the blond kunoichi, wondering what had gotten her so worked up.

"I've seen a number of healing jutsu before," Ino began. "But I've never heard of one that can mend broken bones." She asserted.

"That's because there isn't any." Sakura opined from besides her blond best-friend.

"There isn't?" Chouji curiously asked from his seat next to the two girls.

"No!" Ino and Sakura yelled in unison.

"So what does that have to do with anything?" Naruto asked; confused by what was occurring, as always.

"It means, that –" Ino heatedly began.

"That my idiot brother's nose wasn't broken." Ijinu interrupted the blond before she could finish what she'd really intended to say.

"But-" Sakura began to protest for the two medic-nins.

"Tell them." Ijinu directed himself at his younger brother. "Does it feel broken?"

"…" Kiba reached out to touch is blood soaked nose. Carefully examining it for any soreness or pain. "It feels fine." He shrugged; before sharpening his eyes into a glare directed at his older brother. "Not at all like I just had my face slammed into a solid wood table by some sadistic sociopath!"

"See?" Ijinu turned back to the girl; ignoring his younger brother's comment. "There you have it. Feels just fine. So it couldn't have been broken."

"That's exactly what we're getting at!" Ino protested. "His nose _was_ broken!"

Mentally, Neji agreed with the blond. He too had been certain the younger Inuzuka's nose had been broken by the earlier impact with the table. But he had not known about the fact that bones could not be healed by medical jutsu. Knowing this now, he wondered whether or not he had been right about Kiba's nose to begin with.

"Hn." Neji grunted softly. A tiny flicker of doubt nudged at him. He _had_ been certain about it. He just wasn't sure how that was possible. Also, the glow that had surrounded Himakai's body as she healed the younger Inuzuka, had not been the typical glow of a medical jutsu. But it had to have been that, didn't it?

"How could it have been?" Ijinu rhetorically questioned. "You said so yourself: no jutsu can mend broken bones. So if there is no jutsu that can do that, but his bones aren't broken now, then the only way that's possible is if they had never been broken in the first place. Isn't that right?"

"Well…" Ino hesitated; looking over toward the pink-haired kunoichi for some support, but finding none. "haah." She sighed. "I guess you're right." She reluctantly admitted defeat.

"Regardless," Shino, much like Neji, preferred to remain silent during most of their group's social gatherings, uncharacteristically spoke up. "That was rather impressive. The average healing jutsu would take much longer than that to heal an injury of the degree of severity that Kiba-kun had sustained."

"That chakra…" Shikamaru, also uncharacteristically spoke up, (though his was more of a mumble than actually speaking up).

"mmhm." Himakai softly moaned. Everyone's attention immediate fell back on to the raven-haired kunoichi, who was still being held in her teammate's arms.

From what little of her Neji could see, given that Ijinu had turned Himakai away from the crowd, almost as if to shield her, the Hyuga noted that the raven-haired woman's skin had paled considerably within the last few minutes.

"Sister?" Tenten poked her head around Ijinu to get a better look at the older woman. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes…" Himakai softly replied. "I think I just drained myself with that last …" Her voice trailed off into a soft whisper; inaudible at the end.

"Do you want us to go home?" Tenten worriedly asked; getting up from her seat to go and retrieve their coats.

"I'll take her." Ijinu stated once Tenten returned with Himakai's coats.

Carefully, together with Tenten, he gently placed the two clean coats Himakai had hung up on the wall earlier, onto the black-haired kunoichi's slender frame. Neji noticed then that the woman was barely managing to stand up. As he looked closer, the Hyuga realized she _wasn't_ standing on her own at all; in fact, it was the elder Inuzuka who seemed to be holding her up with one arm, as the other helped Tenten maneuver the woman into her coats.

"Ijinu-san…" Tenten looked up at the old man; a worried expression in her eyes.

"She's just tired." Ijinu explained; smiling down at the girl as reassuringly as he could. "Hasn't been sleeping very well." He added, before gently hoisting the raven-haired kunoichi into his arms.

As the older man cradled Himakai against his chest, Neji noted that she had fallen asleep. Her angelic face appeared quite peaceful in that light, though at the same time there appeared a slight wrinkle of worry at the center of her forehead. Something seemed to be bothering her. He wondered what it was.

"She'll be fine now that's she's home." Ijinu looked down, warmly, at the woman in his arms. "Just needs some rest…"

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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Hime, btw, means Princess… Ijinu's nickname for Himakai.


	4. Crackers

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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She watched as the other stared off into the distant trees. The early morning rain now long forgotten, as the warm mid-day sun shone down upon the village.

"Well?" Tenten stood with her arms crossed in front of her, waiting for her stoic training partner to speak up. They had been standing in the same spot of the forest for the last half an hour, and he had yet to say anything. "Didn't… Didn't you say you wanted to tell me something?"

She watched as the Hyuga continued staring off into the distance. Tenten could tell there was something bothering him; she just wasn't sure what. He had seemed fine the day before. What could have happened?

"Neji?" Tenten called out to the distracted Hyuga.

"Hn?" Neji slightly shuttered before turning to face the kunoichi standing in front of him.

"Yesterday…" She began in a soft whisper. "You said you wanted talk after our lunch with everyone."

"…" He blinked. Trying to piece together in his mind, the words she had spoken. It seemed as if he were still under whatever trance had been distracting him. "Is you sister well?" He finally said after a few minutes of silently staring at the kunoichi with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"Huh?" Tenten stared back incredulously. "She…" Tenten uncertainly began in the same soft whisper she had used moments earlier. "She's sleeping right now. Ijinu's taking care of her…" The kunoichi paused as a familiar ache surfaced in her heart. She watched, with careful eyes, to see if she could spot some inkling that her suspicions might be correct.

"Hn." Neji nodded slowly before turning to face away from her again.

Terror consumed her, as the all too familiar ache of jealousy gnawed at her soul. She didn't want to feel this way; she hated it when she did. But in this instance, Tenten couldn't help it. She'd been hoping that Neji's decision to call her out this day was so that he might actually confess to her that he had the same feelings for her that she did for him. But now, it seemed unlikely.

Tenten inhaled and exhaled deeply. Trying to steady herself for what she would say next. She didn't want to know if she was right, but a part of her felt that she needed to hear it from him, because she knew what would come next… and she didn't want to have to witness it without first knowing and preparing herself for it.

"Don't tell me you're just like the rest of them." Tenten began; trying to make her voice sound light and cheerful, though on the inside it was killing her to have to say those words. "Did you fall in love with her that quickly?"

"What?" Neji swiftly turned to face the kunoichi; his brows curiously furrowed.

This time it was Tenten who turned away from him. She didn't want to see his face. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised." The kunoichi began. "Everyone loves her." She paused, again to steady her quivering voice. "Why should you be any different?..." Tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. It was becoming painful to speak. "I should warn you though." A gloved hand rose to her face as the kunoichi discretely attempted to wipe away the tears from her eyes. "Even if it's you, I don't think you'll have much of a chance against Ijinu."

"You're wrong!" Neji uncharacteristically shouted.

Surprised, Tenten turned to face the anxious face of the white-eyed shinobi. It pained her to see him so worked up over what she had just said. And his reply stabbed at her heart. Did he really already love Himakai that much?

"You're wrong." Neji repeated in a much calmer voice. "I do not have feelings for her." He explained, after seeing the confusion in the kunoichi's eyes. "I have just met her. And I…" He stopped; straightening his back and turning away from the bun-haired girl once more.

"And you…?" Tenten repeated. She wondered what he had been about to say. There had been something in his eyes as he said those two words, but she didn't know what. For a moment, her heart had hoped he would say that he didn't have feelings for Himakai because he had feelings for her, but Tenten quickly dismissed that idea. She was sure it was probably nothing more than wishful thinking on her part.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Neji quietly asked after a while.

Tenten stared at his back, trying to figure out what exactly it was he was talking about.

"Have I not earned your trust enough to be told that you have a sister?" Neji mumbled.

"What?" Tenten gasped at the sudden realization of what was actually going on. "That… um…I…" She was flustered by the sudden question, and didn't know what to say. "It's not…" She inhaled deeply to try and steady her voice again. "It's not about trust…" she began, walking over to stand in front of Neji, so that she could look into his eyes as she tired to explain her own insecurities; something which she had never done before, with anyone… but which she felt needed to be done this time. If there was anyone she trusted most in the world, it was Neji.

"Hn." Neji turned away, as if to move, but Tenten stopped him.

"Please listen." She pleaded to him with her eyes. "This is hard for me to say."

"…" Turning back to her, Neji nodded before taking a seat on the forest floor; waiting for the kunoichi to say what she had to say.

She followed his lead, and sat down next to him; both of them staring off in the same direction Neji had been looking out to, before their conversation had begun.

"I love my sister very much." Tenten began; her eyes firmly focused ahead of her. A part of her wanted to see his reaction to what she would say, but a bigger part of her didn't want to see his face as she shared with him the deepest and darkest parts of her soul. "But ever since I was little, I've always only been known as 'Tenten, Himakai's little sister.'" She paused to breath in deeply again. "I just… I just wanted to be 'Tenten' for once."

Tears began trailing down her face, as she tried to still herself against the sobs that were beginning to overtake her. She hated herself for what she had said; hated herself for how she felt.

It was true, of course, but it hurt her nonetheless that despite how much she loved her sister, Tenten was jealous of her. Himakai had always been very talented at whatever it was she did, and everywhere Tenten went, she was always compared to her sister. Teachers at the academy had compared her to how quickly Himakai had always picked everything up. How studious she was. How hard working. How intelligent. How beautiful…

Eventually, Tenten had grown to feel like she had become nothing more than her older sister's shadow; and an inadequate one at that. It was for that reason that she had decided not to tell any of her friends about Himakai; not wanted to be judged against the impossibly high standard her sister had set.

"Tenten." A bandage-covered hand reached out to cup the kunoichi's tearful face; pulling it back to face him. "I think you much more beautiful than your sister…"

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"And then what happened?" Himakai, now more rested, eagerly asked her younger sister as the two kunoichi sat comfortably on the older girl's large bed. A brilliantly wide smile brightened the elder sister's face as she waited for Tenten's reply.

"He kissed me." Tenten replied, with an even bigger smile on her face than the one smiling back at her.

She hadn't told her sister everything about what had happened, although she half suspected Himakai already knew. Despite the fact that her feelings about being overshadowed by her older sister were a secret Tenten had never shared with them anyone (until now), it had always seemed as if Himakai was conscious of it and acted to try to prevent people from comparing the two sisters. It was one of the reasons that Tenten hated feeling that way about her sister, because she knew how much Himakai loved her. And how well her older sister understood her, even to the point that Tenten could tell her a story, with a few missing pieces, and Himakai wouldn't question it at all.

"I don't like this kid." A growling voice proclaimed as Ijinu walked into the room with a tray of food in his hands. "Maybe I should pay him a visit."

"You'll do no such thing." Himakai responded as the feral-eyed shinobi placed the tray of food on her lap. There was hot soup, sliced carrot sticks, and a glass of orange juice on the tray. All food which was said to be healthy, but which Tenten found difficult to imagine eating together. "He's a good man." Himakai asserted; handing Tenten the carrot sticks, while she began twirling the spoon around the soup to cool it down. "I saw it in his eyes when we walked into the restaurant." She took a small spoonful up to her lips to blow on it, before putting it in her mouth. "And he cares for you." She added, looking into the younger kunoichi's brown eyes as she said it.

"…" Tenten could feel herself blushing.

Though she wasn't sure where she and Neji stood now, because he had run off shortly after their kiss, flustered by what had happened; Tenten did know one thing: he liked her. She had felt it in his kiss.

"He didn't try anything funny after that, did he?" Ijinu leaned over the bed; his face within inches of Tenten's as he tried to read her face for the truth.

"Ijinu!" Himakai uncharacteristically raised her voice as she scolded the shinobi.

"What?" Ijinu backed away from the younger kunoichi to look over at the elder of the sisters. "She's practically my little sister. It's my duty to look after her virtue." He adamantly explained.

"You do realize you have your _own_ younger sister to look after, correct?" Himakai stared inquisitively at the wild-eyed man, as she set the tray of food to the side, on the bedside drawer next to her.

"Who, Hana?" Ijinu cocked his head to the side as he thought over the implication of Himakai's question. "Tch." He scoffed. "She's an old woman in a young woman's body. Always has been. I'd hardly consider her a little sis." He turned back toward Tenten; throwing an arm around the younger kunoichi. "Not like Tennie-chan here. She's so cute, I want to make cry." He teasingly smirked at the girl; playfully ruffling her hair with his other hand.

"Do it and I'll make you experience the most agonizing pain ever imagined." Himakai icily glared at him with her frosty blue eyes.

"Grrr." Ijinu growled, before pouncing onto the bed; landing directly over the raven-haired kunoichi. "You," He bent down to nibble at her ear; gingerly tracing his tongue along the kunoichi's jaw line. "You can't say something like that and not expect me to attack you." He growled.

"Ok!" Tenten jolted out of the bed. "I don't need to see this." She asserted, before moving toward the door. But just as she was about to exit the room, there was a heavy impact to the air and the sound of Ijinu crashing against the wall, on the other side the room from where the bed was.

"Agh." He painfully moaned; rubbing the back of his head as he stood to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Tenten asked, as she ran forward to look at the older man.

"Yeah." He slowly nodded. "I…" He glanced over toward the bed. "Hime!" His pain forgotten, Ijinu ran to the bedside, where the older kunoichi had fallen back into the headboard, after the technique she'd used to send him flying across the room.

"Ijinu…" Himakai whispered softly. "Sorry." She smiled up weakly at the crazed looking man. "Force of habit."

"Don't worry about it." Ijinu anxiously looked her up and down. "Are you okay? Do you need a medic? Should I go get someone?"

Tenten watched, unsure of what was happening. She had often seen Ijinu overreact when it came to anything causing her sister harm, but this time, it seemed different. As she observed the older shinobi's reaction, Tenten wondered if maybe there was more going on then what he had earlier lead her to believe about Himakai needing rest.

"I'm fine." Himakai whispered. "Really, I'm just… tired." She turned to face her younger sister; calling out to her with her right hand.

"Are you sure?" Tenten doubtfully questioned, as she slowly approached the bed from the opposite side of Ijinu.

"Yes." The raven-haired kunoichi nodded. "It's just exhaustion." She added.

Tenten noticed Himakai's hand moved down to land on her midsection. "Do you need anything?" She asked, wondering if perhaps her sister wanted something for her stomach. From the manner in which her hand was rubbing it, she thought it might be hurting her.

"No." Himakai shook her head.

"What she needs is more sleep." Ijinu opined; wrapping his arms around the woman to move her more comfortably on the bed. "I'll stay here in case you need me." He gently whispered, as he lowered the woman back onto the pillows; stroking the hair on her forehead to one side, as he bent down to kiss her head.

"That isn't necessary." Himakai sighed. "Go." She gently pushed him away. "Go see your mother. And your sister. And play nice with your little brother."

"But…" He began to protest.

"I don't need you to stand guard against nightmares." Himakai cut in before he could finish his protest. "Dreams can hardly be thought to be dangerous."

"Fine." He sighed, before standing to leave. "Tenten," He motioned for the kunoichi to walk towards the door with him. "Keep an eye on her." He whispered as the two reached the doorframe. "If her stomach starts hurting, there's some crackers in the kitchen and mint tea if she needs it."

"Um," Tenten looked over towards the drowsy figure on the bed, before turning back her attention on the older man. "Okay." She nodded; watching him leave after that, not sure, exactly what was going on…

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**A/N**: A note on the title… it's got multiple meanings… though that might not be evident just from looking at it… but yeah… don't worry it's not just some random word I chose **;P**


	5. Devil

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Three in a row! I know… I always update pretty quickly, but I did take my time before the 3rd chapter, so I figured I'd be nice and try and update a few chapters a little faster… I don't promise this will continue though cos still got school and all, but these three chapters just came easier than the others so… (might even have a 4th one soon… with Neji!)… so yeah… Hope you like them and thank you everyone who's given me all your wonderful heartwarming reviews and support, and everyone's whose favorited the story or put it on alert. LOVE YOU!!! Your support is the reason I write! **:D**

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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_She ran. _

_She ran as fast as her little legs would carry her and the small bundle wrapped in her arms. The coldness of the night and the heat of the flames, consuming the only home she'd ever known, were suffocating her. The frigid wind blew smoke against her tiny face; causing her eyes to water and her throat to tighten. She wasn't sure they would make it. _

"_Ack, ack." The little girl coughed; holding her head to the side to be sure not to cough onto the small baby in her arms._

_The smoke was good for one thing, though. At least with it covering the compound, she could hide and maneuver her way through the men, fighting at all corners of the estate._

"_Now what do we have here…" A chillingly sinister voice hissed from behind the little girl._

_She didn't dare to move. She was too afraid that she had been spotted, but hoped that maybe the voice was not talking about her._

"_Where did you come from?" The voice approached her from behind._

_Cautiously, she turned to face the voice; hope that it had not been directed at her quickly fading. "Haah!" The little girl gasped; backing away as she saw the man, covered in blood that was not his own, slowly approaching her._

"_Did you come from the castle little girl?" The man menacingly ran his tongue over his lips as he quickly breached the short distance between them. "You seem harmless enough," He smirked at the little girl. "But orders are orders." His smirk grew wider and more grotesque. "Feel free to scream as loud as you want." He chuckled; swinging the large battle ax in his right hand, up over his head, preparing for an attack._

"_No." The little girl whispered; closing her eyes tightly as she waited, terrified, with her arms wrapped firmly around the girl. She knew what came next…_

_A shrill ring sharply pierced the air, as the man swung his ax down on to the girls. But before the metal weapon could touch the little girl, a chocking, gasping sound escaped the man. Then something warm and thick splattered across her face._

"_Oi!" A different voice yelled out from above the girl. Cautiously, the little girl opened her eyes to see a giant, cloaked man standing over the one with the ax. "You stupid or something?" The masked man snorted; crouching down to face the girl. She couldn't see his face though, as it was covered by a white porcelain mask with red markings on it. It looked like a wolf's head. "Even a little squirt like you should know to run when someone's swinging a blade at your head." He added; cupping her chin to lift her head and get a better look at her. "Huh." Slowly, the man removed his mask, pushing it to the side of his face. "You shouldn't be so eager to throw away your life, little one." He added, while pulling at his cloak sleeve to wipe away the fresh blood that had landed on her face. "No matter what, you should never give up."_

_The man smiled down at her. There were dark triangular marks on his cheeks; red like blood. Though he appeared scary and intimidating, for some reason, the little girl felt safe in his presence. His smile was friendly and caring, though his words seemed harsh and insensitive._

"_What's you're name, little one?" The man questioned the girl as he brought her, slowly, back up to her feet._

"_Hi-Himakai." The little girl whispered quietly; unsure of whether the man could even hear her tiny voice._

"_Himakai." The man repeated. "Hellfire huh?" He smirked. "That's a pretty name. I've got a little Devil back home who is about your age." He paused; looking up passed the little girl. "How about it; you want to come back with me and meet my little Devil?"_

_A voice in her heart, which felt just like her mothers, told her she should follow this man. But Himakai didn't really want to meet any devils. She had just escaped a burning inferno that had swallowed her entire life; her mother, her temple sisters, and everyone else in the castle. All that was left now was her and…_

"_Hey, what's that?" The man asked curiously as he noticed the bundle in the little girl's arms wiggle. Slowly he pulled back the blanket at the top of the bundle, he looked down onto the covered child's face. "So there are two of you…"_

"_Haah!" Himakai gasped; pulling her arms tighter around the younger girl and turning to shield the child from the older man._

"_Relax." The man called out. "I'm not going to hurt you." He assured her. "Neither of you." Cautiously, she turned back to face him; her arms still firmly holding on to the bundle. "She you're little sister?" He asked._

"…" _She remained silent, but found herself nodding in response to the large man's question. She knew there was no reason to tell him the truth; it fact, it would probably be safer for the child if no one knew who she really was. _

"_What's your little sister's name?" The man questioned._

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Tenten." Himakai smiled down at the girl sleeping soundly next to her on the large bed in her room.

"She's been watching over you since I left." A deep baritone voice in the shadows at the foot of the bed informed the raven-haired kunoichi.

"Shouldn't you be at home with your family?" Himakai asked the man, as she slowly pushed herself up into a seated position.

"What were you dreaming about?" Ijinu asked; ignoring the question.

"Huh?" Himakai stared back at him, confused. He usually never asked what her nightmares were about.

"You were smiling." Ijinu explained, as he rose up to his feet and walked over toward the bed.

"Hn." Himakai furrowed her brow, trying to remember what she'd been dreaming about.

"Well," Ijinu uncharacteristically hesitated. "Actually, you were screaming at first, but then you stopped and started smiling at the end."

"Oh." Himakai nodded; remembering what she'd been dreaming. "I was dreaming about the night I met Garou-san." (**1**)

"My old man?" Ijinu cocked his head to the side; taking a seat on the bed, opposite to where the bun-haired kunoichi was sprayed out sleeping.

"He saved us." Himakai smiled; looking down at her beloved little sister.

Inuzuka Garou. He had saved their lives the night Himakai and Tenten had escaped from the burning castle. It had also been thanks to him, that the fourth Hokage had agreed to let the two girls stay in the village; and more importantly, had allowed for Himakai to enter into the academy.

It had been difficult, because Himakai didn't possess chakra like everyone else. Her energy came from a different source. A spiritual force. The daughter of the high priestess of the sisterhood of the moon, Himakai had not been meant to be a kunoichi. Chakra wielding had not come easy to her, but the words Garou had spoken to her on the night they met; telling her that she should never give up; had helped her carry through the darkness and always try her hardest to do what she had to do.

"So what are you planning on doing?" Ijinu softly called out; interrupting Himakai's inner thoughts.

"…" She looked down at the sleeping girl; gently taking out the bands that tied her hair into the tight buns on her head. "I don't know." She solemnly whispered.

She really didn't. On their last mission, Ijinu and Himakai had discovered news that jeopardized the two sisters' peaceful existence. And a clear and present danger to the happiness of the bun-haired kunoichi was quickly approaching.

"I still don't understand how they even found out about her." Ijinu looked over at the sleeping girl. "I thought I was the only one you ever told."

"You are." Himakai nodded.

"Then how?" He asked; trying to understand how everything had turned on them so drastically.

"The sisterhood of the moon." She replied.

Himakai didn't know how, but she was certain somehow the temple priestesses who had survived the massacre were now working for the man who had crown himself a Lord. It tore at her heart to know that the women she had once loved and considered her family, would betray everything that their clan stood for. Betrayed the name the Getsuei clan, who had been charged with the duty to serve and protect the Hiryuu clan. (**2**) It was blasphemy! How could they work for the man who, in a single night, had destroyed what their two clans had built up over a millennia?

"Haah." She sighed; turning her head up to face the ceiling. She didn't know what was going to happen, but Himakai knew one thing… "I have to protect her… She's my little sister…"

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**_**TBC  
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**_FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Garou means hungry wolf. And yes, he is Kiba and Ijinu's dad (an OC). If the name sounds familiar to some it's because I've used it before in one of my oneshots. Chapter 51 in NxT:1S … as Kiba's dad…  
(2) In case anyone forgot… Getsuei ("Moon/Moonlight") is Himakai's real surname and Hiryuu ("Flying Dragon") is Tenten's real surname.

**A/N**: As I said to Shadeehue in my review reply to her last review, the more I think about it, the more I realize I don't create the characters so much as they tend to reveal themselves to me... Same goes for the stories. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again… at a certain point while I'm trying to plan things out, they sort of just take on a life of their own… I'm kind of curious to see where this 'sisterhood of the moon' thing goes **XP**…


	6. Stupid

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**STUPID  
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"Baka, baka, baka." Neji banged his head against the tree situated directly behind him.

He felt so stupid.

He _was_ so stupid.

It had already been an entire week since 'the incident', as Neji was referring to it in his mind, and still he couldn't stop tormenting himself with the memory of his own ineptness.

He was an idiot. Not only had he clumsily confessed to the girl he had been harboring a crush on for the past few years, in such an indelicate and mediocre manner, but he had also kissed her. After having spent months preparing his confession to her, he had ungracefully blurted out some rushed words he didn't even remember anymore; and to make things worst, after regaining his sense of self-awareness, Neji had fled like a coward. A stupid, stupid, coward.

"Agh." He groaned, as he slammed his head back, hard, into the solid beech tree.

"Women!" A familiar frustrated voice scoffed from behind the tree. "So troublesome."

Neji didn't even question his lazy friend, as Shikamaru and Naruto rounded the corner; coming to a stop directly in front of the foolish Hyuga. He knew the genius Nara had already deduced the reason for his current lack of composure; and it didn't surprise him.

"What are you talking about Shikamaru?" Naruto confusedly asked. "There aren't any girls here." His clueless blue eyes searched the surrounding area to verify his statement.

"Tch." Shikamaru scoffed again, as he moved closer toward the Hyuga. "That's what makes them so troublesome; they don't even have to be around to cause a man grief." (1) The bored expression on the younger man's face told Neji that, though he knew what was going on, he wouldn't so easily betray the Hyuga's secret; this, however, did not make Neji feel any better.

Shikamaru _always _knew everything that occurred around him; though he rarely let it be known by others. However, Neji knew from experience that Shikamaru only made it obvious that he knew something, and then made a point of assuring he would not tell, when he intended to get something out of his silence. Considering the two of them had come to search for him in the forest, Neji wondered exactly what it was he was about to be forced to do.

"Huh?" Naruto stared questioningly at the lazy Nara; still trying to figure out what Shikamaru had meant.

"What is it you want?" Neji asked the duo; his eyes focused on the lazy genius as he spoke.

"Kiba's older brother invited all of us to go hunt today." Naruto responded for the two of them.

"Everyone?" Neji curiously asked; beginning to suspect the real reason why the Nara was there.

Neji was certain hunting was the last thing the lazy shinobi would ever want to do, but nonetheless he appeared to be in compliance with the decision. The Hyuga suspected it might have had something to do with the fact that the only suitable hunting grounds around the village were located in the Nara forest. That meant that either his clan had ordered Shikamaru to go and protect their deer, or the lazy Nara had taken it upon himself to do so; most likely reasoning it was the lesser of two evils, as undoubtedly he would have found it more 'troublesome' to face his mother's wrath if anything did happen to one of their clan's precious deer. In either scenario, it seemed to Neji that Shikamaru didn't want to be stuck with the annoying group that undoubtedly had already enthusiastically agreed to go.

"Chouji left for a mission this morning, and Shino refused to go on account of his being a …" Naruto turned questioningly toward the other shinobi.

"Vegetarian." Shikamaru finished for the confused blond.

"Hn." Neji stood; knowing he didn't have much of an option even if he wanted to. "Fine." He brushed himself off. "Have you located Lee yet?"

"He's already with Kiba and his brother." Shikamaru responded.

"…" Neji nodded, before turning to walk in the direction the two had arrived from earlier.

With Lee, Naruto, and Kiba there, Neji knew it was going to be a very, very long day…

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"So?" Tenten smiled knowingly at the woman standing across from her in the large, sparsely decorated bedroom. It was the first time since her sister's return that the two of them had had any significant time to themselves; Ijinu having not left Himakai's side the entire week, except on the rare occasions that she sent him away to see his mother and siblings.

Calmly turning away from the dresser, where she had just been putting away the freshly washed laundry she'd just brought in, Himakai turned to face the bun-haired kunoichi. "'So'…what?" She asked the girl seated on her bed behind the basket of unfolded clothes.

"Five years…" Tenten firmly held the older woman's gaze; letting the statement hang without explanation. She knew there was little need for more, as it was the same topic the bun-haired kunoichi had enjoyed questioning her sister about, since as far back as Tenten could remember.

"Yes, that's correct. Five years." Himakai returned to her task of putting away her clean clothes.

"I saw you." The younger girl cautiously began. "There was definitely something different this time." She asserted.

"Different?" Himakai repeated, without a hint of emotion; never pausing, even for a moment, as she continued with the chore of organizing her clean clothes.

"He's always been nice and attentive toward you." Tenten continued; pulling the basket on the bed towards her, to help her sister fold the rest of the clothes. "But this time was definitely different." She reiterated.

"Was it?" The raven-haired beauty questioned; knowing exactly what it was that her little sister was asking about.

"Yes." Tenten unwaveringly asserted. "I know you love him."

"…" Himakai turned back around to face the girl; her icy blue eyes staring straight into the bun-haired kunoichi's honey-tinted ones. "Perhaps." She nodded; without replying to the actual question she knew her sister wanted her to answer.

Tenten's eyes went wide as saucers as her mind digested the response. "So you're finally admitting it?"

"It makes little difference." Himakai took the small pile Tenten had folded, and returned to the dresser to organize the clothes into their appropriate drawers. (**2**)

"What are you talking about?" Tenten disbelievingly exclaimed. "It makes all the difference in the world!" She sighed exasperatedly. "Ijinu's been trying to win you over for years; and you finally… If it was me, and the person I liked had finally accepted my feelings,…" She paused; begrudgingly remembering her latest lament in the hopeless drama that was her love life; or rather, the lack there of. "You're so lucky." Tenten half mumbled; trying to suppress the familiar bitter feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, as she thought of how easily things always seemed to come for her older sister.

Tenten wanted to be happy for her sister; happy that Himakai had finally allowed herself to be loved, after so many years of putting her 'responsibilities' (as Himakai had always put it), over her own wants and needs. But as Tenten remembered the week she had just suffered though, in silent agony; being avoided by the person she had feelings for, while Himakai had been waited on patiently and lovingly by Ijinu, just further added salt to her wound.

"I hate this." Tenten shut her eyes; throwing her head back into the wall behind her.

"So he's still avoiding you?" Himakai's voice turned soft and comforting, as she walked over next to the bun-haired kunoichi.

Opening her eyes, Tenten watched as her sister pushed the laundry basket away and sat down directly in front of the younger girl. "Yeah." She solemnly nodded. Different from the previous, unemotional expression her sister seemed to be well trained at using, Himakai's features were soft and caring as she looked down at Tenten. Her clear blue eyes depicting her concern for the younger girl.

"I don't get it!" Tenten threw her head back into the wall again. "I just don't get it…"

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"What's to get?" The feral eyed man scowled at his younger brother.

Neji, Lee and Shikamaru stood watching from a distance, as the three others in their little hunting excursion argued over the latest instructions the older Inuzuka male had given the group.

"You said it was just a hunting trip." Kiba reminded the older man. "There was nothing about this being an overnight thing."

"Yeah!" Naruto, who had been complaining about the lack of ramen for the past three hours, chimed in. "We're not even prepared to sleep out in the woods anything. We didn't bring any supplies, and we don't even have any food because the only animals we've been able to see since we got here are deer and Shikamaru won't let us hunt those!" The blond whined loudly as he dropped down to the ground with a loud thud.

"What a bunch of p*x#%!" Ijinu cursed at the two boys. (**3**) "This is the whole point of the hunting trip; the reason I specifically told you to leave everything behind." He argued. "Sometimes, you're forced into situations like this, where you don't have any supplies and you have to survive on nothing but the strength of your hands and the sweat on your back. You're Leaf shinobi, for kami-sama's sake! You should be able to make it ONE night in the forest!" He loudly reprimanded the pair. "Grrrr." Ijinu growled as his younger brother. "I don't know why I even bother with such an idiot."

"I didn't ask you to teach me anything!" Kiba countered, just as loudly and angrily as his older brother.

"TOO BAD!" Ijinu barked; grabbing hold of his younger brother's jacket collar. "I'm going to teach you whether you like it or not! And you're going to learn how to survive like this, even if it kills you!"

"FINE!" Kiba shouted back, pushing the older man off of him and turning to leave.

The other boys silently watched the exchange, wordlessly questioning the unusual relationship between the two. Though superficially it appeared as if the brothers' hated each other (an understandable presumption given how much they argued, and how cruel Ijinu seemed to enjoy being with his younger brother), on closer inspection, it was evident the two did really care about one another. From the beginning of the hunting outing, it had been clear that Ijinu had been teaching the rest of them survival skills that they had never really practiced before. A lot of it was stuff that would seem useless to practice since their shinobi abilities made such training essentially unnecessary, but Ijinu had, nonetheless, instructed them to train as if they had no shinobi abilities. Even as he taught all of them, however, it was clear the older man had focused most his attention (as well as punishment for messing up) on his younger brother. Kiba had seemed frustrated by the fact that he was constantly being scolded and punished, but regardless, had persisted diligently in attempting to soak up every tip and instruction his older brother gave to him and the rest of the group.

"TRY NOT TO GET MAULED BY ANY WILD ANIMALS!" Ijinu shouted after his younger brother's retreating back, as Kiba picked up the spear he had made, and returned to the forest in search of food.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kiba shouted back, as he disappeared into the trees.

As Neji observed the two temperamental brothers, wondering if this was the way they always behaved, the Hyuga considered whether it was perhaps because they had been separated for so many years, that they simply didn't know how to be straightforward and honest about how they felt for one another.

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"It's not always easy to be honest." Himakai curled up next to the bun-haired kunoichi, as the two of them tucked themselves under the thick blanket on Himakai's bed. "Perfect timing and the right words, don't always come. And the fear of losing what we already have is a powerful deterrent. Fear makes people stupid. But it's human nature to feel insecure."

Gingerly pushing aside the hair covering Tenten's face, the older girl tried smiling reassuringly at her younger sister; a complete turn about from her usual emotionless face.

"Ijinu doesn't seem to have that problem." Tenten immediately regretted the words as soon as they left her; she knew it was her own jealous insecurities speaking.

"No." Himakai agreed; the smile still firmly planted on her face. "But there aren't many people like him." She responded; ignoring the bitter tone with which Tenten had last spoken.

"Yeah…" Tenten shifted her eyes nervously down to her hands. She felt so conflicted. A part of her was hurting because of how things were turning out with Neji, while another part of her was happy that things between her sister and Ijinu were finally working out; and still another part of her resented her for that fact. She couldn't help it, though; things for Himakai always seemed to work out better and easier than they did for Tenten. The bun-haired kunoichi had always struggled against that part of her. She knew her sister wanted nothing more for her than to see her happy, and she also knew that it wasn't Himakai's fault that things just naturally worked out for her. Just the same, Tenten couldn't help but feel the sting of jealousy whenever things did turn out like this. She hated that part of her, and for that reason, another part of her was as angry at herself, and guilty about falling back into old habits, and she was angry that life always seemed to burden her with the short end of the stick.

"You haven't exactly told him how you feel either, have you?" Himakai pointedly questioned.

"Well," Tenten hesitantly looked back up. "Not exactly."

"And why not?" Himakai asked.

"…" Tenten didn't know how to answer that. Sure, she had been trying to get Neji's attention for a while; hoping he would show some sign of liking her, so that she could build up the courage to tell him herself. But she never had.

"It's fear." Himakai answered for her.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Fear?" Neji repeated the words back to the lazy Nara as the two boys finished setting up camp, while Naruto and Lee went in search of firewood and the two Inuzuka brothers searched for some food to eat.

"Sure." Shikamaru shrugged. "It's natural for younger siblings to compare themselves to their older siblings; especially when they're of the same gender. And it's just as natural that they fear they might never be as good as their older sibling."

"Hn." Neji nodded. That explained Kiba's determination during the course of the day, to try and best his brother at every opportunity he got.

He'd never had an older sibling, so Neji had been curious as to why the two Inuzuka acted as insanely as they did, when it was so clearly evident that they did harbor some affection for one another. As he thought about the Nara's response, however, Neji realized that same rationalization could explain why Tenten had acted the way she had on… the day of the incident. "Agh." Neji silently groaned as he remembered why he had agreed to come on the hunting trip in the first place…

The entire day had been so consumed with grueling 'training' that Neji had scarcely allowed himself time to think about his problems, much less agonize over his failure, but now that the day seemed to be coming to a close, the memory of that moment once more began nipping as his soul; plaguing him with desperation and anger. Anger at himself, for having being so stupid; and for having allowed so much time to pass between then and now, that in so doing, he had probably created an even bigger problem than what had originally existed.

"Grrr…" He silently growled at himself for being so stupid.

"Tenten again?" Shikamaru interrupted his thoughts.

"Hn?" Neji turned to the lazy Nara as Shikamaru laid down comfortably on a soft spot of grass he'd chosen to be his bed for the night. Neji didn't even try to deny the accuracy of the younger man's guess. There would have been no point anyway; it was Shikamaru, after all. "Hai." Neji miserably affirmed.

A part of him was tempted to ask the younger male for advice.

Despite the fact that Shikamaru considered all women troublesome, as far as Neji knew, he was the most experienced with women, out of their entire group. Amongst their friends, it was a well known fact that Shikamaru had confessed to the Kazekage's older sister, Temari, and had been dating the Suna princess for over a year now. Though he was weary of asking anyone for advice, as well as admitting his own shortcomings and stupidity, Neji considered that perhaps the younger man's experience, along with his intelligent and analytical mind, might be able to shed some light onto the solution Neji needed, to get himself out of the current hole he had stupidly dug himself into.

"Nara…" Neji hesitantly began.

"Hn?" Shikamaru's head rose from the grassy floor to look up expectantly at the weary Hyuga; waiting for him to continue.

"OI!" A loud, obnoxious voice yelled out from the trees surrounding the small clearing. "Look what Kiba and Ijinu-san caught!" Naruto loudly exclaimed as he, Lee, Kiba, and Ijinu walked into the campsite.

A proud smile beamed on Kiba's dirt covered face, as his older brother carried in a massive, hairy, wild boar on his broad back. A single puncture wound at the front of the animal's skull, indicated the entry path of the spear that had killed it; the spear which Kiba had proudly hoisted on his back; the spear that Ijinu had taught him how to make…

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**_**TBC…  
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**_FOOTNOTES:  
(1) It's true… we're special that way ;P… sorry… usually like to limit my footnotes lately, but I just couldn't help it with this one ;P  
(2) I know it sounds callous, but remember this is in Tenten's POV, so it doesn't actually mean what an outsider might think it means… I have yet to do a single chapter in Himakai's POV, so… try not to judge the girl too harshly yet.  
(3) I was going to use the word "losers" or "babies"… but it just didn't fit Ijinu's personality… unfortunately after looking and looking for the right word… that one that I didn't write, is the only one that's true to Ijinu's personality… sorry if it offends anyone… but I couldn't betray my OCs character; my writer's heart would never forgive me for it if I had…


	7. Promises

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: A little shorter than the rest, but still well over my ONE THOUSAND words mark. Oh, and FINALLY we get a little of Himakai's POV…

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**PROMISES  
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Ijinu eyed his idiot younger brother, as Kiba proudly beamed, while telling the rest of his friends about how he had bravely wrestled down the oversized pig that was currently roasting on the open flame in the center of their campsite. Though the boy was exaggerating his story to make it more interesting for the others, Ijinu said nothing to contradict his younger brother's account of how their prize capture had been taken down by Kiba's spear. It was a great accomplishment, so Ijinu decided it would be fine to let him boast a little.

There had been another reason Ijinu had wanted to get Kiba and his friends together for a little survival training. Turning his attention away from the group of four, Ijinu stood and walked over to the lone shinobi, who had been brooding, away from the fire, for the past hour. The older shinobi had wanted to talk to this particular white-eyed boy.

"Hyuga." Ijinu calmly addressed the solitary man standing just inside the small clearing.

The older Inuzuka knew what he was contemplating to do could very likely get him into serious problems later; especially since a certain blue-eyed kunoichi had forbade him from doing exactly what it was that he intended to do; but at the moment, Ijinu didn't see a problem. He would deal with any repercussions once they came; not a minute sooner. That was just the type of man he was. Of course, Himakai knew that, which was probably why she had warned him against doing anything in the first place, but he could hardly be blamed for acting in accordance with his nature. Right?

"Yes?" Neji cautiously turned to face the older man; calmly pushing him back off the tree he'd been leaning against.

"Let's take a walk." Ijinu ordered; never one for asking favors or permission.

"Hn." Neji wearily nodded, before following the older man deeper into the forest; away from the distracted group of shinobi, who were still eagerly listening to Kiba's recount of his adventure capturing the boar.

"So," Ijinu stopped in front of a large, mature oak; waiting for the Hyuga to step between him and the tree. "I hear you're Tenten's teammate." Ijinu watched as the Hyuga's eyes shifted curiously down toward the forest floor. For an unusually long time, the younger shinobi remained silent, as Ijinu scrutinized his every gesture; his every movement.

"Hai." Neji replied after his long pause.

"I've known Tenten since she was a baby," Ijinu continued; his sharp, piercing eyes glaring firmly into the Hyuga's pale, expressionless face. "I've watched her go from a grinning, pig-tailed toddler, to the fierce beauty she's growing into." He paused; stepping closer toward the Hyuga; watching as the younger male unconsciously took a step back toward the tree. "She's like a kid sister to me." He added. "Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"…" Neji wearily shook his head in response to the older man's question.

"Hn." Ijinu slowly nodded; taking a few more steps closer toward the Hyuga. Staring down at the younger man, he lowered his voice to a deep, raspy tone. "Then let me make myself clear." Ijinu menacingly whispered, before swiftly closing the remaining gap that separated the two.

Bringing his right hand up, around the Hyuga's neck, Ijinu lifted the younger male up against the oak tree. He resisted the urge to snap the white-eyed shinobi's neck right there and then, as he held his tightening hand around the younger man's windpipe. Neji, for his part, seemed confident that nothing lethal would actually happen; though his eyes did hold a small fleck of fear and doubt in them. From this, Ijinu learned that the Hyuga was brave, but also smart.

Forcefully holding the boy up against the aged tree, as the bark cracked behind him, Ijinu hardened his glare further, to emphasis his next point. "I don't know what you did to Tenten," He half growled. "But whatever it was; fix it." Ijinu paused; noticing the boy flinch this time, at the mention of the bun-haired girl's name. "And if you ever hurt her again," He paused once more for emphasis; slightly tightening his grip on the boy "I promise… I'll kill you." He venomously spat out.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Well you're not going to die." The elderly nurse standing next to the cold steel-framed bed, informed Himakai; knowingly smiling as she saw the younger woman shift wearily against the bed. "I'm pretty certain I know what it is, but just to be sure, we'll wait for your results to come in, in about a week." The nurse's friendly smiled reassured Himakai that there was nothing to worry about.

"Arigato." The raven-haired beauty thanked the older woman without further questions, as she promptly stood to leave the uncomfortably small room. She had never liked hospitals.

As she quickly escaped from Konoha General, Himakai noticed a familiar shadow walking a short distance away. On her way to the hospital that morning, she had seen the same figure pacing back and forth in front of the Yamanaka shop. Coming closer to the figure, Himakai wondered what he was doing all the way out there.

"Neji-kun?" Himakai called out as she quietly walked up to the agitated looking man.

"Hn?" Neji turned; startled by the sudden intrusion into his quite time.

Confused upon seeing who had called out to him, he quickly scanned the surrounding area. From the startled expression on his face, Himakai reasoned he probably hadn't even realized where he was.

"Are you unwell?" Neji finally asked, after an extended silence.

Following his gaze back to the hospital a few yards behind her, Himakai turned back and shook her head slowly. "No. I am fine." She assured him. "Just a little tired."

"…" He nodded his understanding, before nervously giving the surrounding area another quick scan.

"He's not around." Himakai assured him; knowing full well, from the bruises on the boy's neck, who it was Neji was searching for. "He found out Kiba-kun is trying out for the Jounin selections next month, and decided to train him."

"Hn." Neji nodded; relaxing a bit.

Without thinking, Himakai extended her hand out to lightly brush the bruises on the Hyuga's neck. She was about to heal the injury, when she suddenly remembered how tired she had been feeling the last few days. The last time she had healed, it had left her feeling more drained than it usually did; somehow, Himakai instinctively knew using her healing abilities now would not be safe.

"You should have that looked at." She stated; removing her hand from the Hyuga's neck.

"…" Neji held his hand up to touch his injury; grimacing at the feel of his heavy fingers on his flesh. "Hai." He nodded; removing his hand.

"I apologize for Ijinu." Himakai began, as she gracefully walked over toward the Hyuga; maneuvering herself to hook her right arm around his left arm. "He can be cruel at times." She apologetically smiled, before she began pulling him along with her as they began walking back to the village shopping district. "Although," Himakai paused; giving his neck one last look. "I suppose I do not really have to tell _you_ that."

"Hn." Neji grunted; allowing himself to be led by the raven-haired kunoichi.

Together they walked toward the busy streets of the village. The entire time, as he remained silent, Himakai stole looks out of the corner of her eye, and observed the boy's subtle, changing expressions. It was the same as when she'd spotted him in the morning, and again outside the hospital. He paid little attention to the world moving along beside him, as something plagued his mind and took all his focus away from reality. Given where she had first seen him, Himakai was fairly certain what it was he was thinking about; or rather... who.

Quickly, Himakai walked, with determined steadiness until they neared the spot she had seen Neji pacing in front of earlier in the morning. "Purple hyacinth." She softly spoke when they arrived; effectively ending their silence.

"Hn?" Neji pulled himself out of his trance-like state, before turning down to look at the older kunoichi questioningly.

"It's the flower of apology." Himakai explained; calmly gesturing to the shop directly across the busy street from where they stood.

"…" A soft crimson blush briefly tinted the Hyuga's pale features, before he regained his composure. It seemed he needed no further explanation into what she meant.

"I would, however," Himakai ignored the boy's discomfort as she continued with her advice. "Recommend red tulips."

"…" Neji turned back curiously; waiting for her to explain the meaning of those flowers.

"That flower symbolizes a declaration of love." She calmly explained. "They are also Tenten's favorite flower." Himakai added; noting the slight flinch, upon mention of the bun-haired kunoichi's name.

Turning away from him, Himakai released the Hyuga's arm and began leaving him there as she started walking back home. "Just one thing." She momentarily turned back to face the white-eyed shinobi; who politely waited for her to continue. "Whatever Ijinu said he would do to you if you ever hurt her…" She paused for emphasis. "It will be nothing compared to what I will do. I promise."(**1**)

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**_**TBC…  
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**_**A/N**: Poor Neji… but he kind of deserves it… anyway, no worries… he'd never hurt Tenten on purpose, so they won't really have to keep their promises **;P**

**(1)** Someone mentioned "What could be worst than death"... well... believe me... there *are* worst things than death...


	8. Enter the Dragon Lord

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Before anyone says anything, I KNOW it's short… and might I add, reading "It was short" in a review is my BIGGEST PET PEEVE… so, if you feel that way, keep it to yourself. Personally though, as I've said before, I value QUALITY over Quantity… and that's what I'm trying to give you all… Sadly I couldn't expand this any further, and I didn't want to add another scene to it because it wouldn't flow well if I did… therefore this is what you've got, hope you enjoy it!

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**ENTER THE DRAGON LORD  
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Juushin stared up at the full moon outside his second story window. (**1**) A smirk spread upon his face at the thought of howling to the brilliant light, just to unnerve the servants walking below.

People were such fools.

So willing to believe the impossible, simply because it was of convenience to them. Or worst, because they feared the truth of it.

Sixteen years earlier, he had conquered a nation that had long considered itself amongst the most prosperous lands in the known world. Their growth and success had taken a millennia to build; yet their downfall, but one single night. And all because of antiquated superstitions about dragons and lunar goddesses.

"Ryuujin-sama" A quite whisper in the shadows called out to the man now known as the new Dragon Lord; god to a superstitious people. (**2**)

"Sister Ejiki." Juushin warmly greeted the young priestess whose voice he recognized.(**3**)

She was a petite woman, of a mere twenty-two years of age. With soft brown hair, reaching the middle of her back; light gray eyes, that sparkled in the moonlight; and a sweep of curves that even a priestess's robes could scarcely conceal. A priestess in the Sisterhood of the Moon; the only faction of the old regime that he had been unable to do away with.

They were a constant pain at his side. But the superstitious nature of the people of his new nation would never have allowed him to rule without the Sisterhood. Thus he had been forced to allow their existence. That, however, did not mean that he was not ever vigilant of their activities, and instrumental in limiting their power and influence over the years.

Many a night, the lord had taken pleasure in this young woman's embrace. He knew she loved him and would do anything for him. This only further added to his pleasure. And it served to prove he was right; people were such fools. And there existed no bigger fool, than this woman who stood before him, smiling at him as she unknowingly betrayed everything she was to stand for.

"Ejiki." He corrected himself; purposefully making a point of his dropping the formality in his speech to her, as he approached her in the shadows.

"Juushin." She smiled up warmly at the man as he brought his hand up to cup her chin, and gaze tenderly into her eyes.

"Are you free of your duties now, my love?" He affectionately asked; knowing she and the rest of the Sisterhood, had just concluded with their farce of a ceremony; praying to the full moon for guidance and protection.

Juushin didn't understand how it was that the previous Lords had ruled with such success, by relying on the advice of these so-called prophets. Women, as far as Juushin was concerned, were of little more use than to satisfy a man's lust and carry the seed of their young. Beyond that, they were a useless distraction for men whose purpose was better served in fighting wars and ruling kingdoms.

From the day he carried his assault upon the Kingdom of Gesshoku, he had hated the Sisterhood of the Moon. (**4**) Their high priestess had been the only one, during the entire battle, to have wounded him. She had stabbed him near the heart, while protecting the former Lord. Her dieing words, as she bled to death on floor, besides the corpse of her beloved ruler, were a curse upon him.

Her words, laced in venom, promised him that his rule as Lord would end at the hands of the true heir.

It was those words that had divided his kingdom from the start. A civil war had broken out, and much of the old nation had been lost; many village deserting the kingdom; refusing to follow the new Lord.

But Juushin was smarter than any average warlord. At the age of twenty, where many, older and more experienced than him, had tried and failed before him, Juushin had managed to topple a powerful kingdom and dethrone a Lord. A mere civil war was not about to stop him. When the war had reached the five year mark, he sent his men, in disguise as the enemy, to slaughter villages of his faithful. In the ruins and amongst the few that had been allowed to live, the story grew that that enemy of the new Lord was headed by the wolf-god, which the people had long since feared in their myths and legends. He had used their own superstitious nature against them. And in the end, only a few remained faithful to the old regime; hidden in the shadows, amongst dwindling rebel factions.

"My Lord." Sister Ejiki nervously eyed the tiles at her feet.

"What is it, my love?" Juushin pretended to care about what trivial matters the woman had on her mind; hoping that somewhere in there, there might be something of use to him.

"The Sisters, my Lord…" She hesitated; confirming, much to Juushin's delight, that there _was_ something for him that night after all.

Though she had long since begun divulging information that was strictly for Sister's ears only, the girl was always still weary about doing so. It wasn't that she didn't know it was wrong, but her love for him, and her trust in him were so great, that she did not believe as the other Sisters did, that he was an imposter king; though they would never word such a thing aloud. But he knew…

"Sisters?" Juushin fringed concern; pulling her face back up so she could look into his charcoal eyes. "Is anything the matter within the Sisterhood?"

"One had a vision…" She once more dropped her gaze to the tiled floor. In as low a whisper as her voice could form, she hesitantly cautioned. "The heir is coming…"

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_TBC...  
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_**FOOTNOTES:  
(1)** Juushin** means"chief vassal" or "senior statesman", but it also means "center of gravity" (which plays into the character's view of himself); also adding "ninmen" or "jinmen" to it makes it "beast in human form"; which plays in later…  
(2) **Ryuujin** – means "Dragon god"  
(3) **Ejiki** - means "prey"… you'll see why…  
(4) **Gesshoku**** – **means "Moonlight" and also "lunar eclipse"

**A/N**: I just realized something… I have NEVER written a truly bad character… Tekinai I wrote enough for people to LOVE him before he turned evil… this guy, Juushin, I'm starting out with the hate right from the start… and boy oh boy is he ever a hateful man…


	9. It Begins

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Sorry it took me a while to update… got a little case of the writers block… but I think I'm over it… I apologize now with how this first scene works out… but I have my reasons…

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**IT BEGINS  
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_SHRING_

The shrill ring of metal pierced the silence, as another kunai speared the air, towards its target. Angrily, Tenten watched as the sharp steel struck the bull's eye; imagining it was the torso of a certain white-eyed shinobi, right where his heart (or lack there of), should be.

Two weeks!

It had been two weeks since Neji had last spoken to her. Eight days since he'd begun ignoring her.

Two weeks since he'd kissed her…

At first she had been confused; then hurt. But now, all Tenten could feel was rage and fury at knowing that their six years of friendship had meant so little to him that he could just walk away. It was bad enough realizing that he had probably only kissed her to shut her up because she'd been on the verge of tears, but to realize that afterward he hadn't even cared enough to try and explain what had happened and try to repair the damage…

It hurt. It hurt more than anything had ever hurt before.

"ARG!" Tenten angrily chucked all the kunai and shuriken she held in her hands, without looking to see where they hit.

"Haah." A soft gasp from her right startled Tenten, as she quickly turned to see Neji barely dodge the barrage of steal unconsciously aimed at his person. "Hn." Neji grunted as he composed himself and then began walking toward the kunoichi. "That was reckless." He commented, before approaching her.

"Really?" Tenten sarcastically responded; though inwardly she did agree with him. "So," She turned an angry glare at the Hyuga. "You're speaking to me again?"

For a moment, Tenten thought she saw Neji's icy façade disappear; and a slightly pained expression crossed his face. But she quickly dismissed the idea, as she was certain the heartless Hyuga couldn't have possibly felt hurt by her reprimanding tone.

"Well you know what?" The kunoichi continued; walking over toward the steel-punctured tree a few yards in front of her. Keeping her back to him, she began pulling her kunai and shuriken from the tree. "Maybe _I_ don't want to see you now!" She stated, as she turned away from the tree; deciding she would pick up her weapons later instead.

"Wait." Neji's handed reached out to grab her wrist; stopping her as she tired to make her escape.

"Haah." Even though she didn't want to, Tenten couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine at the sudden contact. "What do you want?" She asked harshly, before pulling herself out of his grasp.

"I…" Neji uncharacteristically hesitated.

His eyes shifted nervously down toward the forest floor, as she turned to face him. If her anger hadn't been raging as horribly as it was at the moment, Tenten would have felt bad for obviously hurting him with her harsh response. But that wasn't the case. She was mad; and just because she had hurt his feelings, when he had all but broken her heart…

There was no way she was going to hold back her fury just to make him feel good.

"If you have something to say, just say it." Tenten coarsely demanded; her eyes turned away to look at anything but him.

"So…sorry." Neji softly mumbled.

"What?" Her head jerked to face the white-eyed shinobi.

In all the years she'd known him, Tenten had _never_ heard Neji apologize over anything. The closest he had ever come to an apology was a few months after his defeat to Naruto, when he had started speaking with his clan again, and he had asked Hinata if she was feeling better from their battle. But even then, the word 'sorry' had never crossed his lips.

"I apologize." Neji repeated, pulling his right hand out from behind his back to hand her a flower.

"…" Tenten swallowed hard; looking down at the purple hyacinth. The flower of apology. "Thank- thank you." She quietly stammered as she stared at the flower in her hands.

Though on the inside, she was still angry at him, a part of her was really touched by his thoughtfulness. It was first time she had ever received a flower from anyone; and it was such a pretty flower.

"The other day" Neji began. "I should not have-"

"It's fine." Tenten interrupted; stopping the white-eyed Hyuga midway through his apology. She knew already that he regretted having kissed her; why else would he have run away from her? But even though she knew this, the last thing Tenten wanted was to actually hear him admit it. It was enough for her to know he at least still valued their friendship enough to make an effort of apologizing to her. "Let's just pretend nothing happened." She quietly whispered.

On the inside, however, she wanted nothing more than to confront him and ask why he had kissed her. There were other ways to have quieted her down; he could have thought of something else. Why a kiss? A part of her still wondered if it had meant something; perhaps even dreamed or hoped that it did. But she knew better…

"…" Neji's jaw tightened, as he stared at the back of the bun-haired girl's head. "If… If that is what you want-"

"It is." Tenten cut him off again; her eyes trained to the opposite side of him. She didn't want him seeing the tears that were beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Hn." He nodded slowly. But she wasn't looking at him; so she didn't… couldn't… see the pained expression in his eyes as he crushed the red tulip he held, hidden behind his back.

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"You're sure about this?" The feral-eyed man asked, as he watched the woman he loved rushing back and forth between the bed and her dresser.

"No." Himakai softly admitted; folding a long snow-white cloak into her half-ready pack.

Though she was well training in masking all emotions; having been taught to perfect that art at a very young age, Ijinu could still hear the tears hidden in Himakai's voice. He knew she wanted nothing more than to remain in the village Hidden in the Leaves; away from the troubles of her past.

"But what choice do I have?" She looked up at him with pleading eyes; hoping he had some plausible answer that could save her from what she was about to do.

"Tell the Hokage." Ijinu offered. He had said it as advice, which was what he knew she wanted, but in his heart, Ijinu had meant it as a begging supplication. He too wanted nothing more than to have her stay in the village; with him…

Over the years, Ijinu had grown to know Himakai well enough to learn that nightmares were never a good thing when it came to her; and considering the direction events were headed in, he didn't want to imagine what sort of dangers she was about to put herself in. Especially when he knew, what she didn't…

"I can't." Himakai mournfully whispered; staring down at the travel bag lying on the bed next to Ijinu.

"Why not?" He seriously asked.

Though he had heard the argument many times, Ijinu wanted her to explain it to him, in hopes that her saying it out loud might persuade her into realizing that, though in her former village, her reasons were a time honored rule and tradition; in reality, even she knew, it was wrong to keep secrets that would inevitably lead to problems.

"I just can't." She solemnly sighed; not wishing to go into further explanations that she already knew he knew. "Though in my heart, I am Tatsuki Himakai, kunoichi of the Leaf Village…" (**1**) She turned her gaze straight toward his; firmly holding his eye as she brought her left hand up to the center of her chest. "Inside of me, I carry the blood of the Getsuei clan." (**2**) She paused; biting her lip to keep her emotions at bay as she continued. "I cannot betray my ancestors…"

"Hime…" Ijinu brought his right hand up to cup her chin; with his thumb, he whipped away a single stray tear that escaped the iron-grasp she held on her emotions. "What ever you decide." He leaned in; brushing away a loose strand of hair, as he gently kissed her lips and then stared deep into her clear blue eyes. "I'll be right there with you."

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"Then it's agreed." The blond Hokage stared out sternly at the eight shinobi gathered in front of her desk. "Gai's team will take the lead on this mission, but you are to listen to Ijinu and Himakai's advice." She paused to stare at the few shinobi who she knew often got overly enthusiastic about doing things 'their way.' "The country your mission will be taking you to, has been experiencing civil unrest for the last sixteen years. Though at the present, there are no wars; rebel factions still dwell within the many mountains and forested lands." Quickly, Tsunade turned to face the younger Inuzuka male. "Akamaru will have to hide along with Oynah while the rest of you travel as inconspicuously as possible through the area." (**3**) She paused to emphasis the importance of those instructions. "The people there fear wolves, so it would be best if your nin-dogs remained out of sight at all times."

"Understood." Kiba nodded, as he stood behind his older brother.

"Good." Tsunade handed the two team leaders scrolls to brief them on their mission. "Be ready to leave in one hour." She ordered. "Dismissed."

"Hai!" The eight ninja saluted, before quickly dashing out to gather the necessary provisions for their two week mission.

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**_**TBC  
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**_FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Tatsuki means "Dragon Moon"… it's Tenten and Himakai's made up surname.  
(2) Getsuei means "Moon" which is Himakai real surname.  
(3) Oynah is Ijinu's dog first mentioned in chapter 2.


	10. The Importance of Clarity

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**THE IMPORTANCE OF CLARITY  
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"Haah." The tired shinobi slumped up against the large oak tree at the edge of the forest.

It had been two days since the eight Konoha shinobi left the village hidden in the leaves. At the speed they had been running, their group was now more than half way through River Country; and within half a day's journey to Suna.

Looking out into the vast desert that lay beyond the forest's edge, not too far from where he sat, the lethargic chunin sighed loudly. Inside, his heart longed to be headed in that direction; but he knew that was not where their mission was going to take them.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled, as he turned his attention back in the direction of where the seven other shinobi in his group were setting up camp.

Moments earlier, he had been assigned to go in search of firewood; a task to which the lazy Nara would have normally grumbled and moaned at. This time, however, considering the suffocating aura currently surrounding their campsite, Shikamaru had made no objections whatsoever when he had been sent away.

"Haah." He sighed again, remembering how troublesome the last two days had been.

Until that moment, Shikamaru had never realize how truly fortunate he had been that the only loud and obnoxious person he had ever been teamed up with, had been the blond kunoichi of his genin squad. But even traveling with a chatty and occasionally annoying girl like Ino, compared to Lee, Kiba, Gai, and Ijinu, was a relatively calm and peaceful experience. In truth, Shikamaru knew that Ino wasn't really as annoying as he often made her out to be in his mind. She was just a girl; and all girls were naturally…

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed to himself.

Women were the most troublesome beings in existence. At least that's what the Nara had always believed. But after two days with the obnoxiously loud and violent Inuzuka brothers, and the even more annoying _and loud_, self-proclaimed green beasts; Shikamaru had learned that perhaps there were more troublesome things in the world than women.

For two days, he had witnessed Kiba and his older brother yelling at each other as Ijinu tested his younger brother's skills. It was obvious he was attempting to train Kiba along the way, as they made their journey through Fire Country, and then through River Country. Shikamaru knew that, like himself, his fang-faced friend was up for examination in the Jounin selections at the end of the next month, so it made sense that he would be a bit anxious about his training; but it seemed to the lazy Nara, that Kiba was even more on edge than one would normally be. Shikamaru attributed that, however, to the fact that Kiba's older brother, Ijinu, seemed to thrive at torturing his younger brother; as well as trying to teach him new things.

"Hn…" Shikamaru smirked as he recalled the adjectives with which Kiba had described his elder brother on the first day that they (the Konoha 11, as they were often referred to by the village), had met Ijinu.

Violent, ill-tempered, sadistic, sociopath.

_A Demon._

From what he'd evidenced in the last two days, as well the hunting-turned camping trip that the guys had all gone on a week earlier, Shikamaru didn't doubt Kiba's assessment of his older brother's personality. However, seeing Ijinu tenderly, and ferociously, watch over his woman; even to the point of nearly coming to blows with Gai over the decisions of what speed they would be traveling at, in order to reach their destination in less than the allotted time (an argument in which Shikamaru inwardly sided with the elder Inuzuka, as it was at a much slower pace than the insanely ambitious goal of 3 days to accomplish a 7 day trip). Though the proclaimed Devil Dog, was unarguably, an intimidating and violently terrifying man; observing how gentle and kind he became when dealing with Tenten's older sister made Shikamaru slightly question whether he really was as vicious as he outwardly appeared to be.

"Nara." A soft, yet deep, masculine voice called out to the lazy chunin.

"Over here." Shikamaru begrudgingly replied back to the stoic man hidden in the shadows.

"They're waiting for you." Neji informed the younger shinobi, as he walked over to the oak tree where Shikamaru was lazily looking up into the sky.

Turning to his friend, Shikamaru noted the pile of firewood Neji held under his arms; obviously having collected it knowing that the lazy Nara had had no intention of actually completing the assignment that had been given to him.

"Is that right…" Shikamaru mumbled under his breath as he stood to his feet.

"Hn." Neji grunted in response; turning to walk back in the direction of their campsite. For a moment, he waited for the other man to follow. "Nara?" Neji turned back to face the still motionless Shikamaru, to find him looking out into the direction of the desert, as a small hawk flew off into the distance.

"Just speak clearly." Shikamaru found himself saying before he even realized he was speaking.

"Hn?" Neji's right brow rose questioningly as the younger shinobi turned back over to look at the Hyuga.

"Haah." Shikamaru sighed. He had unknowingly spoken out loud without meaning to. He blamed his current hazy mood, as he looked back over into the outstretched desert plains to his left. "Hn." Shikamaru irritatedly grunted. _That woman…_ She could cloud his judgment without her even being present. "Tenten." Shikamaru explained, as he began walking past the Hyuga; heading back toward their campsite.

He wasn't sure what it was that had happened between the two sparring partners, but from the way they had been behaving towards one another (timid and hesitant, with hints of slight embarrassment and heartache as each stole subtle longing glances at one another), Shikamaru had deduced that something had to have happened. He'd known, for a long time, from observing the stoic Hyuga, that Neji had feelings for the bun-haired kunoichi. From what he'd heard, and the little he'd bothered to notice, Shikamaru was all but certain that Tenten felt the same way. At the moment, however, it seemed as if the two had somehow drifted farther apart from what they had previously been. He could only guess that it meant the Hyuga had messed something up.

It was Shikamaru's experience that whenever a man and a woman argued, it was usually the man's fault; or at least, the woman always twisted things around so that it seemed that it was…

"Just speak clearly." Shikamaru repeated, before abruptly walked back toward the campsite; without allowing time for the Hyuga to response to his advice.

He didn't want the conversation to become any more troublesome than it already was…

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**_**TBC  
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	11. What Dreams May Come

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: This was a bit tricky to do, but i think it came out okay...

**_THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!_**

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_WHAT DREAMS MAY COME  
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_"No!" The little girl awoke with a powerful jolt. _

_She had a dream. A bad dream._

_Searching the large, elegantly decorated room, only to find herself completely alone in the darkness, the little girl pushed the covers of her bed off of her, as she rose to her feet and made her way toward the sliding wooden door at the other end of the room. Quickly, she left the room in search of her mother; High Priestess of the Sisterhood of the Moon._

_In the short span of her life, the seven year old had been told countless times that dreams were an important part of who she was. To the Sisterhood, dreams were the windows to what would come. But not all Sisters were born with the gift of prophesy; some where born with an ability to wield the elements, some with the ability to heal, some who could communicate with those who had passed on, others with the ability to move objects with their mind, and still others who could even make themselves invisible to __an __outside observer. The gifts that each Sister possessed were as different and varied as the Sisters themselves. Dreams, however, were most important because they helped the Sisters in their duty to aid the Dragon Lord in his rule over the kingdom. For that reason, the High Priestess, regardless of power, was always one with the gift of foresight. _

_"High Priestess." The little girl mournfully whispered as she thought of how many times that title had taken her mother away from her. _

_High Priestess. It made her the most important woman in the clan. But no mother._

_The current High Priestess was different from the others. While many who held the position before her had possessed other abilities along with that of premonition, few had had more than three or four abilities. And none had possessed the strength and power that the current High Priestess held._

_"Haah." The little girl inhaled deeply to calm her nerves as she searched the dark estate._

_Though she was the daughter of the High Priestess, even the little girl was terrified of such a powerful and intimidating woman. It also didn't help that the two, despite being kin, spent little to no time together. _

_The Sisterhood was her family._

_At least that was what her mother always told her, before leaving the little girl to attend to the Master. It was rare for the little girl to ever see her mother, except at night when they slept in the same room, or during the Sisterhood's monthly ceremonies. Searching for her at any other time was difficult, if not impossible. At the moment, the only place the little girl could think to look for her mother was in the Master's room. Since the Master's wife had died during child birth a few months earlier, the Priestess had scarcely left the Master's side. _

_"What are you doing out here?" A stern voice from behind the little girl called out._

_"Haah!" The little girl gasped as she turned to face the woman she'd been in search of. "Mother…"_

_"Answer my question Maki." The priestess firmly stared down at the young girl. "What are you doing here?" She repeated._

_"I…I" The little girl hesitated. She wondered if her dream really meant anything at all; or if maybe she had just imagined what she had seen. Maybe it had just been a regular nightmare. Just because her mother possessed the gift of foresight did not, in it of itself, mean she would too._

_"I don't have time for this." The priestess sighed. "I'm going to check on the girl. Go back to bed, and stay there." She instructed, before beginning to walk towards the room of the Master's young daughter._

_"Mother." The little girl called out; unconsciously reaching out to pull at the long sleeves the Priestess wore._

_"What is it?" The woman turned to look at the girl._

_"May… May I come too?" She timidly asked; fearfully removing her hand from her mother's sleeve._

_"…" The Priestess scrutinizing gaze fell upon the girl, before the woman eventually sighed and turned back toward the infant's room._

_The little girl took that to mean that she had been granted permission to follow. Taking care to walk a few steps behind her mother, the little girl quietly walked behind the priestess; playing with her fingers as she tired going over the dream in her head again._

_In her dream, she had seen the Palace's young Lady as a grown woman. She appeared sad for some reason; but why that was, the little girl didn't know. In the dream, the two of them had been in the Palace, but it had seemed like a different place from what the little girl had always known. Instead of the decorative sculptures and painting depicting the history of the Hiryuu_ _clan (**1**) and the legend of the epic struggle between the Dragon Lord and the Wolf Demon, that lined the walls of the Palace, an eerie emptiness had surrounded them. There were no paintings; no sculptures; no nothing. The rooms were an eerie white; not the white of peace, but of terror masked as peace. And at the end of the hall, a dragon waited for her. But not the red dragon of legend; a black dragon. The most dangerous dragon of it's kind. _

_In the dream, the little girl, all grown up, had been wearing a heavy robe. Similar to the one her mother wore, but as white as the soulless walls of the Palace. _

_"Maki." The Priestess's voice broke the little girl out of her thoughts._

_"Yes?" She looked up expectantly; waiting for her mother to continue as the two of them walked into the room of the infant Lady._

_At that moment, a hazy tingling swept over the little girl as she turned to look at the baby lying in the bassinet at the other end of the room. Suddenly, a warm glow began to surround her as a feeling of bliss and happiness spiraled her into near unconsciousness. _

_She felt herself falling. _

_A nauseating dizziness quickly stealing her away from the world around her. She opened her eyes to find herself no longer in the infant Lady's room. Instead, she was standing in front of the colorless walls of her nightmare. At the end of the hall, where she knew the black dragon lay in wait, a bright, burning light called to her._

_She couldn't control herself, as her feet began taking her in the direction of the light. She knew she should turn away, but she just couldn't. Looking down at her white robes, she unconsciously crossed the distance between her and the door at the end of the hall. Her hand reached out; turning the knob. As she stepped through the blinding white light (shielding her eyes from the bright sting), she saw the part of the dream that had always terrified her the most. Looking at the back of an unfamiliar girl dressed in the red robes, kneeling before a smirking dragon; the dragon's claws wrapped tightly around the girl's neck. _

_She knew what came next. The dragon would snap the girl's neck. Her head would be torn off and roll to the ground._

_"Protect her." Her mother's voice echoed in her head. "At all cost."_

_She searched for her mother; wanting to ask more. And then it happened. The girl in red robes turned to face her. The dragon gripped the girl's neck. Blood would splatter everywhere._

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"NOOO!" Himakai jolted upright; drenched in frightful sweat from the dream she'd just had.

"Hime!" Ijinu leapt to his feet; swiftly rushing across the small campsite, to the raven-haired kunoichi's side. "It's okay. I'm here." He reassured her, as he protectively wrapped his arms around her trembling form. "Everything fine."

"No…" Himakai whispered as she buried her face into his chest; desperately clinging to him. "No… it's not."

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_TBC  
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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Hiryuu means FLYING DRAGON. Tenten's family name.


	12. Secrets

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Sorry for the delay… I was having a little problem with my plot… I actually wrote up an entire chapter for this one, but then, as much as I liked it, I realized it made no practical sense for the story other than to indulge my need to toy around with my OCs, but I figured this story is getting to far away from the main pair and spending too much time on Ijinu and Himakai, so I scrapped the old chapter and started a new one… this one I think came out much better; and it actually gave me some substance for the story XD

_*****NOTE: PLEASE READ IMPORTANT NOTICE AT BOTTOM!***  
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_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**SECRETS  
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A soft, almost undetectable, sound alerted Neji to movement on his right. Immediately his entire body stiffened into ready action; but he did not move. Instead he chose to remain as he was; laid out, resting on the forest floor with his eyes closed; waiting.

Under different circumstances, perhaps he would have risen to his feet instantly and tried to fend off whoever it was that had made the noise, but these were not normal circumstance. They, a large group of eight, were on a mission in a foreign and distant land. Konoha Intelligence knew very little about the people who lived in this area, or what they were capable of. Their mission, thus, included remaining as inconspicuous as possible; which meant, at times, they had to pretend to be nothing more than civilian travelers, so as to not call needless attention to themselves. It was a role that the Hyuga never particularly enjoyed playing; especially given that his very obvious shinobi traits made it difficult for him to blend into a crowd. However, since, at the moment, he detected no threat from the figure creeping carefully over toward him and the two other shinobi sleeping at opposite sides of him, Neji decided to wait before he acted. While the figure could very well be an assassin, it could also just as easily be a theft attempting to sneak up on sleeping travelers. Neji could not run the risk of blowing their cover over a mere theft.

"Psst." A hissing sound from above his head nearly startled the Hyuga.

Of all the possibilities he'd considered, Neji hadn't imagined the shadowy figure lurking its way over towards his side of the camp might actually be someone from their team.

"Psst." The hissing came again, this time followed by a gentle movement of the shinobi resting to Neji's left. "Kiba." An almost silent whisper called out to the sleeping Inuzuka, laying no more than four feet away from the white-eyed shinobi. "Wake up already!" The familiar female voice called out to the unconscious man.

"Uh?" A groggy moan escaped the younger man's lips, as the aforementioned Inuzuka lazily tried to rouse himself to consciousness. "Tenten?" He coarsely whispered as he took in the sight of the figure crouching over him. "Un." Kiba agitatedly scratched the back of his head as he sat himself up on the thin bedding he'd been drooling on only moments earlier. "What-" He began, before suddenly being silenced.

From his position to their right, Neji could see that the kunoichi had placed her hand firmly over the Inuzuka's mouth to keep him silent. Had he not previously heard Kiba call out to her, Neji would have thought the girl was an enemy trying to suffocate the younger shinobi. That would have made Neji immediately jump to the Inuzuka's aid. However, since he _did_ know who the figure hovering over the Inuzuka was, Neji's current impulses to jump towards the pair were far less noble, and to the opposite purpose of what they would otherwise have been.

At that moment, Neji remembered the feelings he had had the day Tenten had run into the Konoha restaurant three weeks earlier, and leapt into the Inuzuka's arms. Every nerve in his body suddenly felt like it was on fire, as Neji tried to resist the urge to rush over to the two and ripe Kiba apart, limb for limb.

"Shh." Tenten silenced the younger Inuzuka, before carefully turning to see if anyone else had woken up. "Quiet."

"Umhm." The Inuzuka mumbled from behind the girl's gloved hand.

"Just keep quiet." Tenten warned, before removing her hand, and slowly sitting herself down next to younger shinobi.

"Fine." Kiba groaned as he sat himself up so that he and Tenten were directly facing each other on his mat. "You sure you didn't mean to wake _that one_," He paused, for what, Neji assumed, was to gesture over towards his right. "Up, instead of me?

"Just shut up and listen, will you?" Tenten ignored his question.

"Okay fine." Kiba let out a loud yawn. "What is it?"

"Something's going on." Tenten ominously whispered.

"What do you mean?" Kiba nervously whispered back.

From his vantage point, Neji could make out that the two of them had simultaneously turned their heads toward the direction of their older siblings. Though he wasn't sure what Tenten was referring to, silently, he too agreed that there seemed to be something suspicious going on between the dark and brooding couple; something secretive going on between them.

"There's something they're not telling us." Tenten quietly whispered back to the Inuzuka; still facing Himakai and Ijinu.

"M-maybe there's a reason." Kiba tired arguing; though it was clear to Neji, from his tone that the fang-faced shinobi held some doubts about his own assertion.

"You know something!" Tenten whisperingly accused; turning her attention away from the sleeping couple, back toward the hesitant Inuzuka.

"N-no." Kiba half-heartedly denied.

"Then why are you hesitating?" Tenten retorted; turning to support herself on all fours as she slowly began inching her way closer toward the nervous-looking figure of the man seated in front of her.

Watching her crawl slowly toward the younger shinobi sent jolts of rage coursing through the Hyuga's muscles, despite the fact that he knew from experience she was not inching her way over towards Kiba in seductive manner; though from his line of sight, the shadows would have the Hyuga believe otherwise. But no; Neji knew her. He knew her movements were not those of a woman trying to seduce a man, but those similar to a wild animal ready to pounce for the kill.

"It's…" Kiba, obviously having picked up on the implicit threat in the kunoichi's movements, worriedly hesitated. "Okay." He sighed. "I know something."

"Well?" She paused; sitting back down, waiting for him to continue.

"But it's not what you think." Kiba tried to assure the kunoichi. "Well, it might be related," He hesitated. "But…"

"Spill it!" Tenten menacingly gripped the kunai Neji had seen her pull out when she first began questioning the Inuzuka. "Or would you rather I force it out of you?" She waved the sharp-bladed kunai towards Kiba's neck.

"…" Kiba cringed. "Geeze Tenten!" He pushed the kunai away. "You've been spending way too much time with my big bro."

"Ehehe." Tenten softly giggled. "Ok… Maybe." She laughingly replied; bringing the kunai back down to her side.

It was all Neji could do to not jump right out of his sleeping mat to tear the smirking Inuzuka to shreds at that moment. Inwardly, he realized it was his own fault if Tenten was enjoying the company of another man; he should have been braver and told her how he felt that day in the forest when she had told him that they should just forget about the kiss they had shared. Neji could admit it was pride, and his own cowardice, that had prevented him from coming clean at that moment and handing her that tulip hidden behind his back; but _never_ in his wildest imagination had he believed that keeping quiet about how he really felt for her would lead her into the arms of another man.

"Agh." Neji inwardly groaned; frustrated at his own stupidity and bad fortune.

"Hey!" Tenten abruptly stopped laughing; turning quickly to face the sleeping figures to her right. "Did you hear something?" She addressed the younger shinobi.

"Huh?" Kiba groggily replied; clearly still not fully awake. "aahhhh." He yawned. "I didn't hear anything." He sleepily confessed.

"Tch." Tenten scoffed as she turned back to face the yawning man. "What kind of shinobi are you?" She reprimanded the younger man for his inability to detect Neji's silent groan.

"A tired one." Kiba replied; yawning again for emphasis. "Can I go back to sleep already?" He asked, as she let himself fall back down onto his mat.

"No!" Tenten hissed; pulling the man back up to face her. "You still didn't answer my question."

"I can't." Kiba whispered nervously.

"And why not?" She persisted.

"I…" Kiba hesitated; turning slightly to eye the sleeping figure of his older brother. "All I know, is that, if you're right, and _they_ are hiding something… it's probably not what I know."

"And how can you be sure of that?" Tenten asked.

"Because." Kiba lowered his already whispering voice. "What I know, I'm pretty sure your sister _doesn't_ know; which means _they_ can't be keeping it from us."

"Just exactly _what_ do you know?" Tenten's curiosity began to peak at the prospect of something that involved her sister, but that Himakai had no knowledge about.

"I can't tell you anymore than that." Kiba hurriedly whispered. "The demon would kill me if I did." He added; to insure that Tenten realized nothing she could say would get him to reveal what he knew.

"But-" She began a half-hearted protest.

"Oi." Kiba stopped her. "Don't worry about it." He placed his hand reassuringly over hers; giving it a gentle squeeze. "If all it is, is what I know, then you don't need to worry." He comfortingly tired to smile at the kunoichi.

"Really?" Tenten searched his eyes in the darkness for reassurance.

"Trust me." Kiba smirked. "If it's that, it's a good thing."

"A good thing…" Tenten worriedly repeated; turning her head back over to the sleeping couple. "But" She fearfully whispered, out into the night. "That's not what I'm feeling…"

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**_**TBC  
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**IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM AUTHORESS (is that even a word?) : The NEXT update for this or any of my stories is probably not going to be until AFTER I return from China (In June)… I'm sorry, but with finals just around the corner (and my utter lack of preparedness for them), and then my flight to China being the very day of my last final… I'm sadly not going to be getting a chance to update any time soon… sorry… I **_**MIGHT**_** have one more oneshot in me before I leave, but that's probably the most I'll do.**


	13. Captain Hakumi

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: This was one of my most difficult chapters to write EVER!...(and it's not just because of the old man's speech pattern, though that in it of itself was a challenge… won't be seeing him again any time soon; to help with reading his words… remember, he doesn't use **R**'s or **V**'s and **Th**'s are **D**s and he occasionally drops the first/last letters of the words at the beginning/end of a sentence, and he never pronounces the **G** at the end of "ing")… anyway, I hope you all like the chapter… thanks again for waiting so long for me to update. Enjoy!

WARNING: Slight cliff-hanger… but not really; definitely not as bad as some of past ones…

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**_**CAPTAIN HAKUMI  
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"Hoist the sails men!" Tenten heard the young captain yell out to his crew; most of them teenage boys, not much older than the kunoichi herself.

Six days had passed since the eight Konoha shinobi had left the village. Though they had managed to cover a considerable distance within the first three days (due in large part to the over-zealous ambitions of the two spandex-clad shinobi), upon entering into the southern regions of Wind Country, which had previously been territory that belonged to the Kingdom of Gesshoku (**1**), the two teams had run into some unexpected troubles.

In none of the ANBU reports they had received, had there been any mention of conflict within the borders of Wind Country; thus, the eight of them had been caught completely off guard when they ran into scattered battlefields throughout the region. After some quick reconnaissance to assess the situation, it was discovered that the former-Gesshoku villages were experiencing civil unrest; something which they had long been immune to, since submitting to the rule and protection of Wind Country.

With their quickest path now blocked to retrieve the important military documents from a border village between Gesshoku and Wind, the eight shinobi agreed the best, and only option they had left was to board a ship in the port of Kitai; located half way down the coast of Wind Country. (**2**)

Posing as two ladies of nobility being escorted to their home country by six personal bodyguards, the eight of them had boarded a ship that Himakai and Ijinu had procured for their transport; and already they had been at sea for nearly three days.

"Ye be in luck, me Lass." An older sailor (one of only a handful within the largely youthful crew) jumped down to the lower deck and made his way over to where Tenten sat, surrounded by her five 'bodyguards'.

"Luck?" She curiously repeated; eager to distract herself from the endless blue of the ocean; being unaccustomed to sitting still for so long.

"Aye." The man nodded, as he slowly shuffled his way across the deck. "If da sea be calm, as it be now…" The old man paused; looking out into the ocean, as if to verify whether or not it would be calm. "We be makin' port in time fer da Dragon Moon Festi'al."

"Dragon Moon Festival?" Tenten again repeated the older man's words; her curiosity quickly growing.

"Aye." He nodded; before taking a seat next the disguised kunoichi, on a long wooden bench the Captain had provided for her.

"What's that?" She asked the old man.

"Aaa." He warmly smiled at the young girl. "It be a 'nomorous celebratin' all o'er da kin'dom of Gesshoku. Tis lasts fer se'en day."

"What's the celebration for?" Tenten, whose love of festivals everyone knew all too well, excitedly asked the old sailor.

"What be fer?" The old man repeated; a sly smile crept wide across his toothless grin. "It be da peoples festi'al." He smugly asserted. "Da only thin' dat basta'd lo'd not be able ta do 'way wit'." He turned his head to the right and spat out disgustedly.

"Oi!" A commanding voice from behind the old man called out, followed by the sound of heavy boot steps, as the Captain made his way over to the group that had slowly begun to form around Tenten and her silent troop of bodyguards. "Show some class, old man." The young captain glared down at the toothless sailor, before turning his attention over to the kunoichi. "Apologies, my dear lady." Politely bowing, the Captain reached out to take Tenten's lace-gloved hand, and gently brought it up to his lips to kiss. "My men are not used to having such beautiful ladies on board." He paused; straighten himself, as he slowly surveyed the surrounding area. "I see your sister is still unwell." He observed.

"Hai." Tenten nodded in response, as the captain pulled over an overturned bucket to sit directly in front of her.

"Hn." The Captain nodded understandingly. "Not everyone has the stomach for travel by sea." He noted; glancing toward the cabin door where Ijinu stood guard over the supposedly sea-sick Himakai.

"That must be it." Tenten nodded; though inwardly she wondered if that were really the case.

"Well," The Captain sighed. "It shouldn't be much longer now." He paused to look out into the sea. "We should be making port by nightfall tomorrow."

Curiously, Tenten followed his gaze out into the darkening sky, where a long, slithering cloud, in the shape of serpent, coiled at the horizon. A chill in the air unnerved her. Unsure as to why, Tenten felt as if the growing clouds were a sign of something dark headed their way. What that was, however, she couldn't figure out. It was just a feeling…

"Oh!" Tenten exclaimed; remembering her earlier interest. "Captain." She addressed the man seated before her.

"Hakumi." The Captain replied.

"Excuse me?" Tenten tilted her head questioningly.

"Name's Hakumi." The Captain explained; a slight smirk playfully gracing his youthful face.

"Ah… Captain Hakumi." Tenten wearily replied. She wasn't sure why, but the man made her feel uneasy. It wasn't that she was intimidated by his scowling face (which he seemed to have permanently etched on his face; though she'd noticed she was one of the few he didn't glare at). There was just something about him...

He held an air of confident in his presence that actually comforted her; almost even felt familiar. But there was also something dangerous surrounding him, though at the same time, comfortable; he was a contradiction. Perhaps that was what it was. Tenten had always been fairly good at reading people, but for some reason this man was difficult to read. She wondered if maybe that was way she felt confused around him.

"Yes?" He chuckled at her obvious discomfort at addressing him by name alone.

"Could you tell me about the Dragon Moon Festival?" She innocently inquired.

When she was younger, Himakai had often told Tenten tales of princesses and warriors, and dragons and quests; all from distant times and far off places. Over time, it had grown into a secret fascination of the bun-haired kunoichi, to hear these kinds of stories. Now, with the tedium of being at sea and having nothing to do, the kunoichi was even more eager to hear about the meaning behind such a festival; after all, she reasoned, a name like 'Dragon Moon' had to have a good story to it…

"The Dragon Moon Festival." Captain Hakumi repeated; his eyes cast upward into the night's sky as he contemplated how to reply to the younger girl's request. "Well, let's see…" He gingerly scratched the tip of his pointed chin; the way an old man would do; though the Captain couldn't have been more than a year or two older than Himakai. "It has long ago become known as the people's festival." He repeated what the toothless old man had told Tenten earlier. "But it's more than that." He asserted. "In olden times, it used to be a festival to honor the beginning of the Lord and the Sisterhood's rule over Gesshoku."

"Sisterhood?" Tenten repeated the one word that had jumped out at her. It sounded interested.

"Ah, yes." Captain Hakumi nodded; turning his attention back down toward the kunoichi. "The Sisterhood of the Moon." He explained. "Together with the Dragon Lord, the Sisters have ruled over the Kingdom of Gesshoku since the beginning of time, helping the kingdom grow and prosper."

"What exactly do they do?" Tenten curiously asked.

"Well, they advice the Lord in his rule." He began. "And they protect the Lord and the kingdom."

"How do they do that?" Tenten wondered.

"Dey be Sorceresses!" The toothless old man, still sitting on the far end of the bench with Tenten, shouted.

"Oi!" The Captain turned his attention over to the old man. "Priestesses!" He corrected.

"Witches!" The old man countered.

"Sisters!" Captain Hakumi retorted. "And show some respect!"

"'Spect?" The old man spat at that. "Dey be showin' dem t'ue natu'e by sidin' wit' dat basta'd lo'd." He spat again.

"Enough!" The Captain loudly exclaimed; glaring at the old man to hold his tongue. "I'll hear none of that on my ship." He added, before turning back toward the bun-haired girl. "It's true, that the Sisterhood isn't what it used to be." He paused; again, staring off into the horizon as if focusing on some distant memories. "But they, more than the Dragon Lord, have always been of the people. They are the foundation of our country. With them, from the beginning, the Dragon Lord and the Kingdom of Gesshoku would have been lost to the chaos of the abyss…"

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**_**TBC  
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**_FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Chapter 8 (Enter the Dragon Lord) makes mention of part of the prior kingdom breaking off, so naturally to defend themselves they would have joined the closest power, which was Wind Country.  
(2) Kitai means Hope; but it also means danger.  
(3) Hakumi – Umi means "Sea" … I won't tell what "Haku" means because it gives too much away, but if you know, good for you ;P

**A/N**: Next chapter might take a while since I basically have to invent a whole mythology… but I've got a basic idea so I think it shouldn't be too bad.

Oh and there's a picture of Captain Hakumi on my profile...


	14. Legend of the Dragon Moon

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: This was a little difficult to write at first, but I'm surprised it turned out as long as it did… Enjoy! And, as always…

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**LEGEND OF THE DRAGON MOON  
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_In the beginning, there was nothing._

_No earth, no sky, no sea; nothing. Only the emptiness of the abyss, waiting to be filled. Then one day, three siblings were born into this infinite void. Together, they lived alone in the empty darkness, until such a time when Oozora,(1) the youngest of the three, decided she wanted to bring something more into the cosmos to keep the three of them company. _

_In a blast of colors, Oozora sent a wave of sparkly stars to light up the darkness in twinkling splendor; and thus, the Sky was born. But the sky, though beautiful in its many changing colors, was frigid and cold. Seeing this, Oozora became saddened by the coldness of the world she had created, and even more so because she did not know how to warm it up. And so, Yomi,(2) her older sister, created the Fires of what would later be known as the Underworld, to warm up her little sister's cold, cold sky. Unfortunately, Yomi's passion to provide for her sister was so great, that the fire burned too hotly, and began scorching Oozora's sky. And so, ever the wise older brother, Enkai,(3) decided to create a barrier between the two worlds so that both sisters would be happy with their individual realms. _

_For many days, Enkai carefully contemplated on what best approach to take to solve the sisters' problem. Ultimately he decided that what he needed was something that could cool the fires of Yomi's domain, without putting them out entirely, and at the same time, would allow some of the heat to pass through to Oozora's sky, without burning out the beauty of the world his youngest sister had created. After considerable thought, Enkai finally came to a decision, and from his solution, came the Sea. However, after creating his new world, Enkai discovered that his sisters did not respond to his solution as he had hoped. _

_Upon seeing the Sea that Enkai had created, the sisters became saddened that their two worlds were so distant and separate from one another, and thus Enkai was faced with a second dilemma. While he considered the Sea was still the best method to divide the two worlds his sisters had created; as it not only cooled the Fires of Yomi's world, but also reflected the beauty of Oozora's starry Sky; Enkai _did_ acknowledge that something needed to be done about the newfound separation between the three siblings._

_Up until that moment, for as long as they could all remember, not only were the three siblings always together in their solitude, but they had basically been united as one until Oozora stepped out to create the Sky. It was disturbing, in a sense, that now, instead of the three existing as one, they each existed as individuals, ruling over their separate worlds. It was almost as if the emptiness that had once surrounded them, was beginning to fill them up as they inadvertently separated themselves. This, however, Enkai refused to accept, and thus decided he would find a way to keep the three of them together forever._

_Using the volcanic fires that occasional erupted from Yomi's domain into his watery world, Enkai took the coolness of Oozora's Sky, and with the strength of his Sea, molded a piece of molten lava into land; and thus created a place where all three worlds connected…_

_For a time, the three siblings, in their newfound surrounds, lived very happy together. But as the millennia passed, the youngest of the three again began to grow bored. Oozora, ruler of the Sky, could see from the heavens above, that there was still something missing. And thus, with the help of her two siblings, the three of them created life in the world. _

_Out of dirt from the land that they had previously created, Enkai molded mud into tiny creatures of all different sorts. Then Yomi, from her fiery depths, gave the creatures warmth. And finally, Oozora blew into the creatures the breath of life. And thus the animals were born into the siblings' universe. And once again, the three siblings lived together happily for many more centuries._

_Then one day, something happened._

_As Oozora was looking down from her perch up in the Sky, she noticed her older sister walking along the shoreline. Oozora was just about to call out and wave to Yomi, when suddenly, an enormous wolf jumped out from behind the trees bordering the beach, and brutally mauled Yomi to death. Oozora was so shocked by the sight that she fell down into the Sea and drowned. Enkai, who had been unaware of what was happening, saw Oozora, and immediately pulled her out of the Sea and took her to dry land. Upon arriving at the beach, however, he realized what had occurred. In a burning heat of rage, Enkai transformed into an enormous fiery red dragon and ripped the Wolf Demon into shreds; then he picked up the corpses of his sisters, and placed the two of them up in the Sky, with the sparkling stars they both loved so much._

_That night, as the tearful Enkai wandered the snowy forest that bordered the oceanside, he came upon an oddly shaped hole in the middle of the woods. As he approached the hole, an overwhelming sadness brought the lonely Enkai to his knees. Tears began spilling down his sullen face, and in no time at all, the hole was filled with his salty tears, and a lake was formed. As Enkai wiped away the last of his tears, he noticed a silvery reflection in the water. Moving his head closer to the surface of the lake, he was frozen in utter surprise, to see the faces for his two sisters reflected in the water. _

_Turning upward to the sky, in hopes of seeing his sisters, Enkai saw nothing but a silvery orb floating just above his head. It had not been there before. He was not sure what to think, so he left and returned the next day. That night, he looked into the lake again, but saw nothing but the silvery orb hanging above; only it was different; it had shrunk over night. Confused and unsure what it all meant, Enkai built a small shelter along the bank of the lake, where he waited, in hopes of seeing his sisters again._

_Night after night, he ran to the lake, praying for a sight of what he had seen the first night; but each night, he saw nothing but the unfamiliar silver orb, as it slowly shrank away to blackness; and oddly enough, then began to grow again. But in all that change, he never saw his sisters again._

_And then it happened. _

_One month after his sisters' deaths, as Enkai once more checked the surface of the lake for their reflection, he saw __them__. Quickly turning upward toward the sky, he saw the silver orb where his sisters' should have been, and then at last Enkai understood. The orb, which was later to be known as the Moon, was the spirit of his two dead sisters. Knowing Oozora and Yomi still existed in some form gave Enkai comfort. _

_That night, he erected an enormous palace next to the lake for him to live in; so he would always be close to his sisters. Shortly afterwards, people began to live build homes the palace, and Enkai became their king; a truly wonderful and kind king, who looked over his people and care for them, just as he had cared for his sisters._

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"And that's how the Dragon Lord and Sisterhood of the Moon came to rule over the Kingdom of Gesshoku."

"Wait." Tenten frowned as she stared over at the Captain (who had just finished telling her the legend behind the Dragon Moon Festival). "That's not how the story ends." She protested.

"It isn't?" Captain Hakumi smirked questioningly.

"Ah… well…" Tenten nervously wondered if maybe she was wrong. But she was sure she had heard this story before and it didn't end that way.

"So how does it end?" Captain Hakumi pressed on.

"Well…" Tenten hesitated. "In the story _I_ heard… one day Oozora and Yomi left for a walk outside the palace where the three siblings lived. As they walked through the wintry forest, they fell in love with the outside world and decided to leave the palace to live there. When Enkai found out, he tracked the two sisters down and told them to go back. But they didn't want to go back; they had already seen too much of the world to want to return to their palace life. Enkai became desperate; believing that they could not survive in the world on their own. Without even thinking about his sisters' feelings, he pulled them up into the sky and created the Moon, where they could never leave, and where the three of them could live together, forever." Tenten recited; remembering the many times Himakai had told her the story when she was younger, and how she had always wondered if Enkai was really a good guy or a bad guy in the story.

"Huh…" Captain Hakumi silently observed the kunoichi; rubbing a finger along the edge of his jaw. "That's interesting…"

"Interesting?" Tenten repeated questioningly.

"Yes." He nodded; still rubbing the side of his jaw. "It's interesting, that a Lady, such as your self," He paused; slightly smirking at something; though what, Tenten wasn't sure. "Someone who has never heard of the Sisterhood of the Moon" Again he paused. "Would know a version of the Story of Origin, which only the Sisters are privy to." He paused again; as if waiting for something. "Don't you find that interesting?" He asked after a few seconds.

"I…" Tenten was at a lose for words. It was strange; but what did it mean?

"Interesting." A soft, sweet voice behind the group interrupted the silence. "If these Sisters are the only ones who know this version," Himakai, with Ijinu at her side, walked up to the two of them. "Then I wonder…how could someone like you," She paused in the same manner that the Captain had done earlier. "Someone, who is clearly not a Sister…" A knowing smirk softly warmed her usually icy features. "Know the story as well?"

"Ah." Captain Hakumi stood up and turned to face the newly arrived pair. "That's a very good question Ma-… my Lady." He politely bowed in greeting. "I see you are feeling better." He added after rising from his bow.

"Hai." Himakai nodded. "Thank you again for the tea."

"Mother's brew…" He stated emphatically. "It cures anything."

"Yes." Himakai nodded in agreement.

"CAPTAIN!" A voice from up high yelled out, just as a scrawny looking boy jumped down to them from the crows nest.

"What is it?" The Captain addressed the boy, as the young teenager quickly ran over.

"A messenger bird delivered this." The boy stated, before handing his captain a small scroll.

"Hn." Captain Hakumi silently read the small note to himself. "Change of plans everyone." He began, after reading the note.

"What's going on?" Ijinu, who couldn't resist remaining as the silent sentinel any longer, asked with great concern.

"The port we were supposed to dock at has been burned to the ground." The Captain informed them. "We're instructed to dock at a different location."

"Where?" Himakai anxiously questioned; making no efforts to hide the glimmer of fear in her clear blue eyes.

"King's Port."

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**_**TBC…  
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**_FOOTNOTES:

(1) Oozora means Heaven, thus Goddess of the Sky  
(2) Yomi means Hades, thus Goddess of the Underworld  
(3) Enkai means Ocean, thus God of the Sea

**A/N**: Sorry for the cliff-hanger… but I'm sure you can all guess what "King's Port" probably means… in any case I won't leave you hanging for too long. I doubt that writing the next chapter will take as long or be as difficult as these last two (especially this one) were. **PLEASE REVIEW** this chapter… if you only ever review once, I'd appreciate some feedback on this mythology I created. I worked really hard on this one, reading various origin stories to try and give me an idea for what a myth should feel like, and I think I did pretty well… but I'd really appreciate some comments on it. Thanks :D


	15. King's Port

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: FINALLY! Some Nejiten… of course, the drama's not over yet, but… at least it's a step in the right direction. And believe me, the good stuff is just about to start. **XD**  
PLEASE for those who haven't reviewed the last chapter, I do still want to hear feedback on that chapter… and for those of you who are faithfully reviewing (Shadeehue , CagalliTen, Deyanira-chan , turtlechick, Youkai Koneko , Cherry Blossom Haiku) You guys are the reason I keep writing, **thanks so much for your wonderful reviews! **

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**_**KING'S PORT  
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King's Port.

She didn't like it. In the deep crimson horizon, Himakai could see the high rising royal towers that lined the entrance into King's Port. It's was the Dragon Lord's Port; the closest town to the People's Palace; sparkling gem of the Kingdom of Gesshoku. The idea of having to dock in that port of all places… it didn't sit well with her. And worst, there was no way for her to know what was coming. The curse of the Sisterhood's powers was that none of their abilities ever quite worked for the wielder of the power. That was the reason why it was for the Dragon Lord that the Sisterhood served, and not themselves. And why Himakai had always only ever used her ability of foresight for her younger sister. But with the two of them currently together at all times, it was difficult for anything to bleed through the barrier that kept her own future in the shadows.

"What do you want to do?" A familiar, comforting, male voiced asked from behind Himakai, as a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her.

'What do you want to do'; not, 'what's on your mind' or 'what's going on' or anything even remotely close to asking for some explanation. But that was just the way Ijinu was. He didn't ask unnecessary questions. And as far as he was concerned, most questions were unnecessary when it came to those he trusted. His was an unwavering loyalty. He didn't need explanations because he had faith in others; faith in her…

"Haah." Himakai sighed. She wished she could have as much faith in herself as he seemed to have. "I don't know…" She shook her head. "I just…"

Ijinu gently pulled her towards him. "I'm sure together we'll come up with something."

"Hai." She nodded; leaning her head on his shoulder. She hoped so too.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Hn." Neji enviably stared at the couple standing near the front of the ship, as Himakai placed her head lovingly on Ijinu's shoulder.

Turning his attention away from the two of them, Neji watched as his two male teammates, along with the younger Inuzuka, made their way into the cabin room below deck, to gather their supplies for de-boarding. Shikamaru stood close by; pretending to stand guard over the younger of the two disguised kunoichi, as the ship's crew prepared themselves for arriving at their port of destination.

For the past few days, Neji had been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about many things, but most importantly… about her. They had not spoken to one another since that day in the woods; two weeks after…'the incident.'

"Hn." No, he was wrong. They hadn't spoken to one another even then. They had said words, but neither of them had really been listening to the other, and in the end, it was that which had caused a rift to form between the two of them. "Haah." Neji didn't like it. In fact, he hated it.

Slowly, nervously, Neji walked up behind the bun-haired girl; nodding gratefully to the lazy shinobi standing next to her as he discretely walked away.

"Tenten." The Hyuga softly whispered as he stepped up besides the kunoichi.

He could feel her tensing at the sound of his voice; sense her apprehension and desire to walk away. But he would not allow it.

"Wait." He grabbed hold of the hand she had placed on the ship's railing.

"What do you want?" She venomously whispered; angrily attempting to remove her hand from his grasp.

"Not this." Neji solemnly replied, as he half-heartedly let go of her hand.

"What?" She asked; this time with less hatred in her voice. Yet still, she did not turn to face him.

"We need to talk." He began.

"There's nothing to talk about." Tenten coldly replied; her voice was distant, as if she couldn't be bothered with whatever Neji had to say to her.

A part of him was tempted to walk away at that moment, and forget about it. But then he remembered what he had decided the previous day, as he thought about everything he had lost in the last few weeks. For so many years, he had delayed telling the kunoichi how he felt about her because he was afraid of losing her. But now, he had nothing to lose. She had already stopped speaking to him; had all but declared that she hated him. What more could he lose? His pride? It was his foolish pride that had caused so much trouble in the first place. Now, if she rejected him, was there really anything left to lose?

"Yes there is." He insisted.

"No, there isn't." She adamantly replied.

"We kissed." He forcefully stated.

"…" She said nothing, but he could feel her tension. "We agreed not to talk about it." She finally said after a while. There was pain in her whispered words, but Neji wasn't sure exactly what to make of it.

"And now we don't speak at all." He countered.

"…" Again she remained silent, before at last turning to face the Hyuga. "And what do you want me to do about it?"

"Just…" He stared down at her frigid expression. It had been days, no, weeks, since he had been able to look her straight in the eyes; those warm comforting eyes that he had grown to love over the years. But there was no warmth in them now. "Just let me speak." He finally said, after his initial shock at seeing Tenten so… so unlike herself.

"Fine." She replied; her expression unchanged.

He was unsure how to proceed. Her expression, colder than any _he_ had ever worn before, frightened him. What did it mean? Did she hate him that much that she could put on such an uncaring, unfriendly, un… un-Tenten like façade?

"If you're not going to say anything" She began; moving as if to walk away.

"Wait." He once more reached out to stop her; this time grabbing hold of her hand in midair. "I'm sorry." He waited to see if she would say anything, but she didn't. "I…" He hesitated. "I was afraid…" Neji quietly whispered; too softly that he wasn't even sure if she heard him.

But she did hear him. "Afraid?" She whispered, almost as softly as he had, as she turned over to face him again. Her icy expression slowly softening as she searched desperately in his eyes for an answer.

"I…" He swallowed hard. "I lo…" He paused; too nervous to continue. "That day..." Neji began again; stalling a little so that he could build up his courage to what he really wanted to say.

"That day…" Tenten repeated. It was clear, from the way her free hand touched her lips as she momentarily looked down at the ship's wooden planks, that she knew what day Neji was referring to.

"I wanted to tell you something." Neji began again; feeling the weight of her tiny hand in his, feeling heavier than he had ever felt it before.

She turned back up to face him. "I remember." She replied. Her voice was much calmer; less aggressive than at the start of their conversation. "Well?" She waited for him to continue. "Are you going to tell me now?"

"…" Neji inhaled deeply; preparing himself. He was afraid of what the outcome might be, but at the same time, he needed to know. Gently squeezing her hand reassuringly, like he had many times in the past, Neji cleared his throat. "Tenten, I… I… I Lo-"

"Me lady." A voice from behind the pair interrupted the Hyuga mid-confession.

"Old man." Tenten turned away from Neji to greet the newcomer; startled, she quickly shook her hand free of the Hyuga's grip. "Was there something you needed?" She asked; putting on her noble lady's voice as she spoke.

"Da capt'n requests yer comp'ny." The old man politely bowed, as he gestured over to where Himakai stood with Ijinu and Captain Hakumi.

"Very well." Tenten nodded, as she started walking away.

"Te-" Neji began to call out, but then decided against it. Perhaps it just wasn't the right time yet.

But as he watched her walk away, Neji wondered just how many times he had told himself that. How many chances he had let slip through his fingers. How many years he had wasted waiting for the 'right time'.

Enough was enough. He wouldn't… he _couldn't_ wait any longer.

"Oi!" A hand reached out and grabbed the Hyuga's shoulder as Neji was just about to chase after the kunoichi. "Did you forget?" Shikamaru held him back. "As troublesome as this all is, we are still on a mission." The younger shinobi reminded the Hyuga.

Shikamaru was right, of course. It wasn't the time or the place. But…

"Next time… I'll definitely say it." He promised himself.

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**_**TBC  
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Please review!  
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	16. Unanswered Questions

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

WARNING: Yes, I cliff-hanger… and sadly I'm probably going to leave you all hanging a bit while I work on my Neji-birthday fic, but then I'll be right back at it again… so don't kill me or you won't get a next chapter **;P**

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**UNANSWERED QUESTIONS  
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Tenten stared up at the high vaulted ceiling in the large, near-empty, white room where she and her sister had arrived moments earlier. She was so confused. And it wasn't just because she had no idea why they were there, or why Himakai had instructed the other members of their team to remain on the ship with Captain Hakumi. It was because the only thing she could think about was Neji; and it frustrating her to no end.

"Agh." She groaned loudly as she stretched out on the large bed in the center of the room. What was he about to tell her?!?

"Hn?" Himakai, who had been carefully tapping on the walls for the last few minutes, turned to face the groaning kunoichi. "Something wrong?"

Looking over incredulously at her older sister, Tenten rose off the bed and on to her feet. "You think?!?" She emphatically gestured around the unfamiliar room. She knew she was taking her anger out on her sister, but at the moment, she really didn't care. "You mind explaining all this?" Tenten demanded; trying to distract herself from thinking about _him_.

"What exactly would you like me to explain?" The blue-eyed kunoichi stopped and turned towards her younger sister.

"Oh, I don't know" Tenten irritatedly began. "How about for starters, telling me what the hell's going on? Where are we?"

Retaining her composure, as always, Himakai turned back to tapping the wall. "You were there." The older kunoichi coolly replied.

_.:..:..:..:..:.:..:..:..FLASHBACK..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:._

_She always knew the past had a funny way of catching up with people, but Himakai never imagined it would sneak up on her so unexpectedly; though she had had a nagging suspicion it might._

"_What is the meaning of this?" Captain Hakumi politely demanded of the five soldier's boarding his ship, just moments after their arrival at King's Port._

"_We were sent to escort the passengers of this ship to the People's Palace." One of the guards firmly informed the Captain._

"_My passengers?" Captain Hakumi turned to his left, where the two disguised kunoichi stood out from amongst the crew._

_Himakai was rather impressed with how composed the Captain seemed to be taking the unauthorized boarding of his ship. Most people, in his situation, might have lost their heads to their emotion, but Captain Hakumi was undoubtedly deserving of his position of leadership. It was clear, though easily outnumbered, the five men were not to be taken lightly. The armor and weaponry they wore were clearly not meant as decorative accessories. _

"_And on whose authority, may I ask, have you been instructed to remove these two lovely ladies from my ship?" The discretely-glaring Captain calmly asked the five men, as he adjusted his captain's hat forward on his head. _

"_Lord Juushin's orders." The same solider replied; handing Captain Hakumi a scroll of parchment._

"_If-" _

"_If it's not too much trouble," Himakai began; stepping in front of Ijinu and interrupting what he might say, as he growlingly began approaching the five men. "Would you gentlemen be so kind as to help us with our luggage?" She addressed the five large men. "Captain." Himakai turned toward Captain Hakumi, as the Dragon Lord's men took down the few boxes she had pointed to. "My sister and I thank you, and your fine crew, for all of your help." She warmly smiled at the Captain before quickly glancing over toward the six silent shinobi standing behind her. She didn't need to tell them to remain as they were; it had already been implied in her statement to the Captain._

"_Not at all." Captain Hakumi politely bowed; bringing the blue-eyed beauty's right hand up to his lips as he kissed it respectfully; having well understood the discrete command she had given her men. "It was our pleasure." He replied with a smirk on his face as he rose back upright. "I am sure we'll meet again." He added, before releasing her hand._

"_Will we?" She stared up questioningly at the older man. A feeling of familiarity swept over her as she looked up at his smiling green eyes._

"_Trust me." He smiled knowingly._

_.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..END FLASHBACK.:..:..:..:..:..:..:.._

"We're in the People's Palace." Himakai reminded her younger sister. "Home to the Dragon Lord."

"I get that part." Tenten snippily replied. "But… why?" She frustratedly asked.

"Why?" Himakai solemnly repeated as she turned away again, facing the plain white walls. "Because fate is cruel." She softly whispered. "And impossible to outrun." She half mumbled.

"What?" Tenten walked up behind the older kunoichi. She thought she had heard her, but didn't understand what Himakai had said.

"Nothing, no." Himakai shook her head. "Never mind." She replied, before turning to walk toward the other side of the room.

"Wait!" Tenten quickly stepped in front of her sister. "Don't 'never mind' me." Tenten yelled; she was through being kept in the dark. "I don't know if you've noticed," She began; well aware that she was still copping an attitude, but everything had been going from bad to worst lately and she just couldn't hold it in anymore. "But I'm in this situation too! So, whatever it is that you and Ijinu have been hiding these last few days, I think I have a right to know!" She adamantly argued; breathing heavily, out of frustration and anger.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"So tell us now!" The Hyuga angrily demanded.

It had been hours since the two kunoichi of their team had been taken away to the People's Palace. Where that was, however, none of them had a clue. But there was someone who did; and that someone, was the man standing directly in front of the white-eyed Hyuga.

"Listen kid," Ijinu glared at the younger shinobi; trying as best he could to control his growing rage, as he stepped between the two men. "I, better than anyone here, know what you're feeling right now." He continued, through clenched teeth. "But getting angry, aint gonna help us in finding them."

"That is correct." An even-toned voice agreed from behind the fang-faced shinobi. "What you need most, at the moment, is to keep a level head." The voice advised.

"LIKE HELL!" Ijinu slowly, but heatedly, turned to face Captain Hakumi.

He knew he had been instructed to remain on the ship; along with the five other shinobi. But what Ijinu didn't know, was why.

When they had first arrived at the port of Kitai, Himakai had told him nothing of the ship she had acquired, nor of the men who were to take them across the sea and into the kingdom of Gesshoku. What she had told him; the only thing she'd told him, was to trust the captain. And that was exactly what Ijinu intended to do; but that didn't mean he couldn't get pissed off at the man.

"What we need now," Ijinu glaringly addressed the Captain. "Are answers." He growled.

"Answers?" Captain Hakumi repeated; a slight gleam in his eyes betraying that perhaps he knew more than Ijinu had originally suspected.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Answer me." Tenten demanded.

"Haah." Himakai sighed; slowly moving over toward the large bed in the center of the room. "Very well." She nodded. "You're right. I suppose you do deserve to know."

"Deserve to know what, exactly?" Tenten worriedly approached the bed. She knew from her sister's defeated expression, that whatever it was Himakai was about to tell her, she was doing it against her better judgment.

"I never meant to lie to you Tenten…" The blue eyed kunoichi slowly, and sorrowfully, began.

"What do you mean, lie?" Tenten wearily asked. A chill running down her spine, however, made her wonder if she really wanted to know the answer to that.

"I'm not…" Himakai reluctantly went on. "I'm not exactly who you think I am."

"What do you…" Tenten paused; unsure of what to ask. "What are you talking about?" Tenten shook her head. "You're Himakai. You're my sister." As she said the words, however, Tenten wondered if the unknown spine-tingling feeling growing at the pit of stomach might be telling her that maybe she was wrong.

"I…" Himakai paused. "Not… not exactly." She half-heartedly whispered.

"Then… Who…" The bun-haired kunoichi stared questioningly at the sorrowful woman seated in front of her. "If… if you're not…" She should bring herself to say it; it didn't make sense… "Then… who… who…"

"I… I'm " Himakai nervously began.

"Princess of Gesshoku." A pure, yet strongly masculine, voice called out from the other side of the room, where, unbeknownst to the two sisters, the bedroom door had been opened moments earlier.

Tenten curiously eyed the green-haired man standing in front of the door. "Who are you?"

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**_**TBC  
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**A/N**: dun dun dun… of course… if you don't know who that is, you clearly haven't seen his profile in my deviant art gallery… but that's okay, you'll figure it out soon enough. XD


	17. The Face of Evil

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Sorry for taking so long, I had a bit of an artistic block (but in writing and in drawing… ack)... I seriously changed the title of this piece 3 times cos I'm so artistically blocked right now!

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**THE FACE OF EVIL  
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_Fear._

_Overwhelming; debilitating; unending fear…_

_That's all the little girl could feel as she stared vacantly into the chilling black eyes of the man standing directly across the courtyard from her._

_His face, though more beautiful than any she had ever before seen, did not disguise the fact that she was staring into the face of pure evil. His long, lean figure seemed to glow in the full moon's luminosity, as he slowly walked up to the Palace entrance. For only a brief moment, he turned. And that was when their eyes met. _

_It seemed like an eternity passed after their eyes locked onto one another, and the little girl became frozen in place; terrified of moving, lest he should unleash some unspeakable horror upon her. The air around her felt ripe with rage and slight scent of death lurking just around the corner. It was suffocating; unbearable. And she knew it was coming from him…_

_Who he was, she did not know. But the little girl could feel it in the deepest regions of her soul that there was something absolutely malevolent about him; though to look at him, one would assume otherwise. _

_His face had a soft and kind appearance; skin as delicately smooth as any sculpture. Hair that seemed to almost sparkle, even in the darkness of night. He carried himself with an air of regal nobility. Even his smile, though freakishly out of place in midst of what was occurring, had a warm gentleness to it. In every aspect of his appearance, the man seemed almost angelically perfect. Except for his eyes… His eyes, as black as night; as menacing as the darkest beasts of legend…_

_His eyes betrayed the true evil that lurked within._

_As innocent as she was about the ways of war, the little girl knew that this man was the one who would be responsible for the most screams that night. Even with all of the other men surrounding him; men who appeared older and larger, and more seasoned in the art of destruction and murder… _

_Together, amongst them, he appeared as an angel surrounded by demons…_

_But she knew…_

_The little girl knew that of all the murderous villains that had entered the People's Palace that night, _he_ would be the deadliest monster of them all. His young, beautiful prince-like appearance did not fool her for moment. He was no angel. _

_He was a demon amongst demons… the bringer of death._

_And those eyes… Those chilling, bloodthirsty eyes… _

_They hungered for it…_

_.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..END FLASHBACK.:..:..:..:..:..:..:.._

"Who are you?" Tenten wearily asked the man standing in the doorway. Her whispery request denoted a slight hint of fear hidden in her voice.

Perhaps it was because she had been raised by one who possessed a gift to perceive that which most could not, but for some reason, Himakai had noticed long ago, that Tenten had at some point become a keenly observant person; so observant, in fact, that it bordered on the unnatural. It was thus no surprise to Himakai that, without even knowing anything about the man standing before them, Tenten seemed to innately grasp the fact that this man was pure evil. It was impressive that she could pick up on something so quickly, given that the face of the man in question would seem to likely give off a different impression.

Then again, Himakai questioned what kind of person would be able to look into that man's hateful eyes and not see the malevolence that lurked beyond the angelic façade…

"…" Having no desire to peer into his pitch-black eyes; eyes that she remembered all too well, Himakai turned away to face anything other than the green-haired man. She needn't hear the fake dragon lord's response to know exactly who the man was.

"I am Ninmen Juushin."(1) The green-haired man calmly replied to Tenten's question. "Lord of this Palace." He added, before slowly beginning to walk into the room. "Lady Tenten, was it?" The blue-eyed kunoichi heard him ask the younger girl.

Himakai silently admonished herself for being so careless. Clearly he had been listening to their earlier conversation, and had heard the two sisters call each other by their true names. It was a rookie mistake; and neither she nor Tenten were novices at working undercover. Nevertheless, a mistake had occurred. Now, their task would be to keep this slight setback from making things worse than they already were…

"And of course," The fake lord's words cut through the blue-eyed kunoichi's thoughts as his voice grew louder; indicating that he was moving closer towards the elder of the two sisters. "You are Princess Himakai, heir to the Gesshoku throne."

"Haah." A nearly silent gasp escaped the blue-eyed kunoichi. Hoping her surprise at the man's words had not visibly shown as her back faced the imposter-Lord, Himakai tried to maintain her composure as she slowly turned to face the older man. "You are mistaken, sir." She replied; attempting to be as formal as possible, but finding herself unable to call the man by the title he had stolen. "I am no princess." She truthfully informed him. "And this kingdom of yours is completely foreign to me."

"Hn." The man smoothly nodded; a warm smile calmly spread upon his deceptively angelic features. "I have no doubt that many things have changed since you were last in Gesshoku." He calmly replied, as he slowly began making his way even closer towards her. "Enough, perhaps, for it to seem unfamiliar to you." He added, before moving to gently cup her chin. "But this face…" He softly spoke; his pitch-black eyes staring intently down into her terrified blue eyes. "This face, to me…" He paused. "Is not unfamiliar."

"Haah." Himakai gasped and her eyes shot wide open at his touch. She couldn't help it. His eyes burrowing deep into her soul… The feel of his flesh touching hers… it burned…

"I could never forget this face" He huskily whispered. Though smooth and silky, something about his whispery voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as if a sudden blast of icy wind had been knocked into her. "So much like your mothers…" He added; a note of menace laced his cold, cold voice.

"My mother?" Himakai whisperingly repeated before she realized the words were leaving her mouth.

"Hai." The man nodded; smirking at the fact that she had inadvertently acknowledged his claim. "I knew her." A slight pause followed, as a quick dark shadow crossed the fake Lord's smooth features, before he once more turned to look her in the eyes and smile. "She promised me one day the former Lord's true heir would come back to the Palace." He paused again as he allowed that piece of information to sink in.

"…" Himakai was unsure of what to make of his statement. Was he implying her mother had worked for him? It seemed unlikely, impossible even; given how loyally her mother had followed the former Dragon Lord. But then, how else would this Usurper have known to find the true heir that day their ship had arrived at the Kings Port? If that where the case, however, Himakai wondered why the man had addressed _her_ as the Princess and not… "Haah."

And then she knew…

Her face; the same face as her mother... The obvious devotion that the woman had possessed for the former Lord… Clearly, the usurping lord had fallen under the mistaken assumption that she was the daughter of the Dragon Lord and his High Priestess…

The thought that her mother would have had such a relationship with the former Lord seemed absurd to her. But to one who did not know the laws of the Sisterhood of the Moon; laws that bound a priestess to the Sisterhood and prevented her from ever finding a love of her own… Her mother, the last true High Priestess of the Sisterhood, would never have gone against the rules. Even if she _had_ been in love with the Dragon Lord, she would never have betrayed the Sisterhood.

To one of the Getsuei clan, the laws of the Sisterhood were absolute. (2) And above all else, a Sister's first and only duty was to protect the Hiryuu Clan. (3)

"Above all else…" Himakai resolutely whispered to herself.

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**_**TBC  
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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Ninmen together with Juushin (Juushinnimen) means "a beast in human form"  
(2) In case anyone forgot, Getsuei ("Moon/Moonlight") is Himakai's real surname  
(3) And Hiryuu ("Flying Dragon") is Tenten's real surname.


	18. Trust

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: AGH, these last two chapters have been killer for me! Mostly because of writers block, but also because of angst! Now normally I like angst just fine, but this stuff is driving me crazy… I promise the next story I write will be nothing but hilarity and fluff! Oh and I'll try to start using Lee and Gai in these next few chapter just to lessen the angst and bring in a little comedy… **;P**

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**TRUST  
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"And you're going to listen to him?!?" Kiba incredulously yelled out the question that lay at the tip of everyone's tongue.

In the next room, Captain Hakumi and his men awaited their response, as Ijinu and Gai explained to the four younger shinobi the plan to help them rescue the two kunoichi.

Moments earlier, in a room of a dozen others (none of which were the young boys that crewed the Captain's ship), Captain Hakumi had disclosed to the two team leaders that he and an unspecified number of rebels had been planning a coup d'etat against the current Dragon Lord for the past few years. He then had informed the two men that the best possible opportunity for them to rescue the two kidnapped women was to join his rebel forces and help infiltrate the People's Palace on the last night of the Dragon Moon Festival. That, however, was over a week away.

"Hn." Neji eyed the older Inuzuka suspiciously.

The two older men had come to them to ask for their input on the situation, though it seemed fairly clear that they had already come to a decision themselves and were of the mind to side with the rebels. This, however, Neji found difficult to believe. It seemed counter intuitive to him that Ijinu would wait an entire week to mount a rescue mission for the woman he so clearly loved. As for his own feelings on the matter, Neji did not see the point in having to wait that long.

"Actually," Shikamaru, who had been patiently sitting in a corner of the room Captain Hakumi had given the six shinobi, interrupted before any of the other three could say anything more. "It's not a bad plan." He lazily asserted.

"Haah!" Lee, having been earnestly listening to the plan the entire time, tearfully turned to the renowned genius. "But Tenten-san…" He began in protest.

"I know." Shikamaru waved the older shinobi's protests off before the overly emotional shinobi could even begin. "The longer we wait, the less likely a rescue would work." He acknowledged. "But remember," He paused to make sure all of them were listening. "Tenten and her sister voluntarily left with the soldiers." He reminded them.

"Yeah? So?" Kiba questioned the man's logic, as he couldn't quite understand what significance that tiny detail could do with a rescue mission.

Neji, though he hated to accept it, had no trouble understanding his younger friend. "It means the number of guards assigned to them will not increase within the interval of a week, as their captures will not expect a rescue to take place when the captives, coming of their own free will, may not realize they are being held captive." He explained for the rest of them; begrudgingly acknowledging that the main argument for rushing a rescue was now a moot point.

"Exactly." Shikamaru nodded approvingly. "What's more," he began. "Captain Hakumi and his men know the area better than any of us here." He pointed out; though Neji suspected, from the look Shikamaru briefly directed at the older Inuzuka, that perhaps the lazy genius suspected his assessment was not entirely accurate. "It would be foolish of us to turn down aid that could help in the success of a rescue." He concluded.

"So is it our decision to join these rebels then?" Gai, who had proposed that the six of them come to a unanimous agreement before engaging in a clear violation of shinobi protocol in order to save the lives of the two precious flowers (as he had so eloquently put it), asked the four younger men.

At this, none of them answered; all of them still weary of Captain Hakumi's true intentions. Neji, especially, was concerned about the Captain. Like with Ijinu, there seemed to be something the older man was concealing from them. Of course, he didn't expect a complete stranger, who had obvious interest in maintaining his secrecy, to divulge everything, but it made the Hyuga all the more suspicious that this man would tell them something as huge as the information he had given them. It made Neji wonder what the information he _wasn't_ giving them might be…

Deciding to approach the same question Kiba had asked previously, but in different form, Neji again turned towards the elder Inuzuka. "Are we to trust this man?" He asked; not clarifying, though it was unnecessary, who the man he spoke of was.

"Not in the least." Ijinu bluntly responded; staring the Hyuga straight in the eyes.

Though it seemed contrary to the way the older Inuzuka had been acting, Neji believed him. Still, nothing seemed to be making much sense.

It was clear that Ijinu disliked, maybe even hated, the Captain, but at the same time there appeared (at least to Neji) something that made the elder Inuzuka brother utterly trusting of the young Captain. What that was, however, the Hyuga had no way of knowing. But because he knew Ijinu was undoubtedly feeling the same painful ache in his chest as Neji was, he decided he would follow the older shinobi's orders, and believe that they were in the best interests of the two abducted kunoichi…

"Then what are we trusting?" The Hyuga asked. A small thump in his chest made him wonder if perhaps the answer to his question was simpler than what he expected.

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"Trust me." Tenten heard her older sister's whispered plea, as she vacantly stared off at the empty white walls of the room they were in.

Moments earlier, the man who had identified himself as Dragon Lord Juushin had left the two sisters alone in the room. He had spoken to them for only a few minutes, but in that short time, so much had changed…

Her entire life, Tenten had lived in the shadow of her beautiful and talented older sister. Himakai was always the smarter one, the prettier one, the popular one. She was every teacher's dream, and every boy's fantasy. She was prefect in every possible way. And Tenten was always compared to her. But no matter how much she tried, Tenten could never live up to her older sister's image…

But that never mattered.

Even though she often felt trapped under the shadow of her 'perfect' older sister, Tenten always felt proud of her. She loved Himakai. She envied her, on many occasions; but she loved her. She loved her because…

Because even alone in the world, with no parents or family, they had each other… Because even though they struggled at times, they would always pull through together… Because despite whatever differences they had… they were sisters… They could trust each other.

But now…

"Trust you?" Tenten disbelievingly whispered. "Trust you?" She repeated louder as she turned over to face the sullen faced woman. "How…" Tenten shook her head, unsure of where to even begin. "You…" She continued shaking her head, unable to form words to her thoughts. "My…" She couldn't say it.

"Tenten, I-" Himakai's pleading eyes stared down at the kunoichi. It was as if she were trying to say something, but couldn't.

"You…" Tenten tried to begin again, but nothing came out. "How… But… I…" The words would not come. Her mind was in utter disarray. Before her, the woman she had always thought was her sister; the woman who had raised her from childhood; the woman she admired; envied even. "You're… you're a princess?" Tenten was finally able to piece together a sentence.

"N-…I-" Himakai abruptly closed her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't. "I'm the same person you've always known." She replied.

"But you're not!" Tenten protested; angrily rising to her feet before she even realized what she was doing.

Anger?

Was she angry? She wondered. The feeling inside of her; a raging, painful feeling in the pit of her stomach, that made her want to yell and vomit at the same time. It was an unfamiliar feeling. A hateful one. Nothing like the many agonizing times she had felt jealous of her sister. But was it anger? Was it that she was upset that her sister had lied to her all those years? Or maybe she was jealous that now there was yet another thing that made her 'perfect' sister, even more 'wonderful' than she always was?

"No." Himakai softly whispered; breaking Tenten out of her thoughts.

"What?" Tenten angrily turned, looking over questioningly at the older woman.

"You're right." Himakai slowly agreed. Slowly, she gracefully walked over toward the bed again and sat down where Tenten had been seated earlier. "You have every right to be hurt."

"Hurt?" Tenten solemnly repeated; wondering if that was the feeling bubbling inside of her.

"I haven't been honest with you." Himakai continued on. "I know it's a lot to ask for your trust after just finding out that I've been lying to you all these years…" She tearfully paused. "And I know it might not mean much to say that I did it to protect-"

"Stop." Tenten held her hand out to cut her sister off. It was too much; her mind couldn't grasp anything Himakai was saying. Inside of her, her emotions were an utter mess. "I need some air." She stated before walking over toward the door.

"Tenten-" Himakai called out.

"No." Tenten cut the blue-eyed kunoichi off. "I just… I need … I need some air." She repeated.

"Okay." Himakai nodded. "But" She hesitated; watching the younger girl reach for the door. "Just let me say one thing."

"…" Tenten said nothing. She waiting; staring at the door.

"No matter what you think you know," Himakai's soft voice whispered out to her. "Or what you may learn from here on out…" She paused. "Trust me when I tell you, you _are_ my little sister, and I love you."

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**_**TBC  
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**Eh, not sure how I felt about this chapter... but I think the good stuff's about to happen so... I'm fine with this...  
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	19. Trapped

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: I know it took a while, but this is not as easy as I thought it was going to be… still I made it a little longer than usual, just to make up for the time I spent on it…  
WARNING: Cliffhanger… sorry but I promise this time I won't take as long to update (I hope… )

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**TRAPPED  
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The palace air smelled of dried blood and burnt soil; seeped into the earth and stone over the decades. The looming trees outside the palace walls, gave the surrounding area an eerie atmosphere. It was as if they were there to barricade the palace; watching… waiting. To Tenten, it felt as if at any moment, the forest would come to life and swallow everything into a deep, dark pit of nothingness.

Or maybe that was just her current mood. "Haah." The bun-haired kunoichi sighed as she stared over the balcony railing, wondering how far down the climb would be if she decided to escape.

Tenten had run off from the room she and Himakai were sharing over an hour ago. In that time her rage, at having discovered that she had been lied to all her life, had diminished considerably. But now, with the anger gone, she was left feeling hollow and empty. Himakai had lied to her about them being sisters; she had lied to her about who their parents were; about her true identity. She had lied to her about everything. The more Tenten thought about it, the more she wondered what else Himakai could have lied about; what else she didn't know. If Himakai wasn't her family, then did she ever have a real family? Was her name even Tenten?

"Agh." It was frustrating. Her whole life, Tenten's greatest insecurity had been the thought that her entire identity was tied to her sister, and now she realized it was; without Himakai, what identity did she have left?

"_No matter what you think you know or what you may learn from here on out…Trust me when I tell you, you_ are_ my little sister, and I love you."_

Could she really trust those words? Himakai had lied to her about everything else, why should she believe her now?

"Because she's your Sister!" An unfamiliar, raspy female voice called out from inside the palace.

"Huh?" Tenten turned, away from the balcony and into the palace; wondering who had been speaking. She had been certain the curtain covering the exit out to the balcony had been thick enough to keep her hidden in the shadows of the night.

"But it seems as if she is keeping something from us." Another female voice protested.

Quietly sneaking over toward the lush red curtain, Tenten pried the fabric open a little; just enough to see who was speaking on the other side.

"The task of a Seer is to disclose only what is necessary." An elderly woman, who apparently was the first voice Tenten had heard, replied to a much younger woman standing next to her.

Both women were dressed in what appeared to be typical priestess robes: a red hakama and a wide-sleeve, white kimono shirt. Their neatly brushed brown hair was tied back in red ribbons, away from their faces, which both seemed to resemble the other; differencing only in the smoothness of the younger woman's skin in comparison to the older woman's textured complexion.

"But isn't _everything_ she sees necessary?" The younger woman anxiously asked. "Otherwise why would she see it, if not for the Sisterhood to know?" She argued.

"That is incorrect." The older one bluntly replied. "Not all that a Seer sees is meant to be disclosed to the rest of the Sisterhood."

"Why not?" The younger one again questioned.

"Knowing too much can jeopardize the future." The older woman again replied; her listless expression denoting that she was loosing interest in the current conversation.

"One last question, Sister." The younger girl plead; apparently having noticed the older woman's disinterest. "Do you know if it was foreseen that the heir would return to the palace?"

"Heir?" Tenten whisperingly repeated as she continued eavesdropping on the two women. Could they be talking about Himakai? She wondered.

"You forget, Sister Ejiki."(**1**) The older woman addressed the younger one. "This was foreseen many years ago by our late High Priestess." The woman stopped; bowing her head to chant something Tenten couldn't make out. "May her soul reside peacefully with the ancestral spirits." The older woman then said.

The younger woman bowed her head and mumbled something else in return, before both women looked back up at one another. "Yes, of course." The one named Sister Ejiki nodded. "But… does it not seem… different from what She had prophesized?"

"How so?" The older woman asked; stared questioningly at the other Sister.

"It…" Sister Ejiki hesitated. "It seems…" She nervously chewed on her lower lip before continuing. "Do you believe it's true that this woman is the daughter of the former Lord and Priestess?" She finally asked after a few moments of hesitation.

"…" The older woman remained silent; eyeing Sister Ejiki suspiciously.

"It's just…" The younger Sister continued. "I thought Sisters weren't allowed to …" She paused hesitantly, as a knowing smile spread across the elderly woman's face; deepening the wrinkles on her already creased face.

"My dear child, do you believe Sisters are born from the skies?" The older woman teased.

"No!" Sister Ejiki blushingly protested. "It's just… I thought there were rules." She nervously continued.

"There _are_ rules." The older woman nodded. "Warriors." She bellowed, as if reciting a creed of some sort. "Strength to strengthen the Sisterhood." She continued. "Sisters be detached from the world. No bonds be formed, outside the clan." She recited. "But," The older woman turned back to face the younger one directly in the eye; speaking more conversationally than before. "We must always continue. It is our single and utmost important duty to protect and serve the Dragon Lord and his kin. But a clan that dwindles away is useless, so we choose the strongest of the men in the kingdom to breed with, but only for the purpose of strengthening the clan."

"Yes I know." Sister Ejiki nodded. "But if it's true this woman is the daughter of our High Priestess," Again the two women bowed their heads and softly chanted. "Then it would mean that She must have broken the sacred oath in forming a bond outside the Sisterhood..."

"Oh?" The older woman's brow arched expectantly; as if she were waiting for the other to continue.

"She didn't?" Sister Ejiki looked over at the older woman in confusion.

"If no bond is formed…" The woman knowingly smiled.

"But the Dragon Lord…" Sister Ejiki began.

"Is the strongest in the kingdom." The old woman amusedly cut her off.

For a moment, Tenten watched as the two women remained silent; each observing the other. The older one seemed amused by the turn in the conversation; as if she knew something the younger one did not. Meanwhile Sister Ejiki's expression changed rapidly between confusion, surprise, and a curious expression of victory; as if she too knew something the other did not, but which she herself had only just realized.

It was interesting watching the two women interact. There was a sense of hierarchal tradition in their speech patterns; denoted in the respect with which the younger one addressed the older one, as if speaking to one of superior status. At the same time, however, Tenten noted that their way of addressing one another as 'Sisters' seemed to indicate that they were in fact equals; and that only the High Priestess who they prayed for, seemed to hold an actual elevated status.

"They must be from the Sisterhood of the Moon…" Tenten quietly whispered to herself as she continued watching the two from behind the red balcony curtain.

"So then…" Sister Ejiki again turned up to question the older woman. "It is possible that this woman _is_ the former Dragon Lord's heir?"

"She came on the ship our Seer foresaw, did she not?" The older woman replied.

"Hai." Sister Ejiki nodded.

"I wonder…" The older woman's experienced eyes stared absently into the distance.

"Yes?" Sister Ejiki anxiously waited for the older woman to continue.

"Oh, it's nothing." The older Sister dismissively shook her head. "I was just thinking on how fortunate it was that Lord Juushin should come across the young Princess' ship, so… coincidently."

"Ahh…" Sister Ejiki nervously shifted as she stared down at her feet. "Perhaps it was fate?" She offered.

"Fate…" The older woman repeated. "Yes… perhaps." She nodded; her eyes locked on the younger woman. "If anything, it will make a most romantic story for the Lord's future legend."

"What?" The color in Sister Ejiki's face drained as she turned, wide-eyed, to face the older woman again.

"Sister Ejiki," The older woman smiled; a hint of amusement hidden in her wise eyes. "Surely you must realize there can be only one reason Lord Juushin has brought this woman to the People's Palace…"

"…" The younger woman's face betrayed her despair as she waited for the other Sister to continue.

"He intends to marry her."

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"Haaah." Neji exhaled deeply as he stared out into the dark forest laid out in front of him. Even without his Byakugan, he was certain the trees went on for miles; an endless sea of green. He felt uneasy; anxious and tempestuous. There was a burning desire in him to… to DO something. But what, he didn't know…

"Hn." A grunt to his left alerted the Hyuga to the presence of another. Turning to see who else had walked out of the meeting room to join him in the chilling darkness, Neji was not all too surprised to see an eerily calm looking Ijinu, standing on the other side of the small rooftop terrace, of the secluded warehouse the rebels were using as their home base. "It's almost full…" The Inuzuka calmly commented as he stared up at the glowing moon above them.

"Hai." Neji mechanically replied; inwardly wondering why one of their group's team captains was out there with him, instead of inside, helping out with the infiltration plan, like Gai was.

"I'm not exactly in a position to help." Ijinu stated; as if to answer the Hyuga's silent question. "My judgment would be clouded by the current situation." He added.

Though he didn't explain, Neji was certain he knew what the older man was referring to. The rules in the ninja handbook clearly stated that a shinobi must never allow himself to be overcome by his emotions. It was for this reason that shinobi with close family or romantic bonds were rarely permitted to complete missions together. It had actually been a surprise to Neji, upon realizing how close the older shinobi was to Tenten's older sister, to see two such shinobi paired up together as mission partners.

"Haah." Ijinu sighed deeply as he once more turned up to face the growing moon. "We've only just recently…" He reminiscently began; as if once more answering the question Neji had not asked. "Though…" Ijinu half-smirked to himself. "I've loved her since we were eight years old, when the two them first…" He stopped; turning back down to face the Hyuga. "She's my weakness." He seriously stated; staring sternly into the younger shinobi's pale eyes. "Everything in me, right now, is telling me to screw protocol, screw plans, screw everything, and just jump off this building and find her. To tear to shreds anyone and anything that stands in my way." His jaw clenched tightly as he continued staring into the Hyuga's white-eyes. "I want nothing more than to have her back at my side. And I would destroy the world to make it happen." He paused; again tightening his jaw as if to restrain himself from doing just as he said he wanted. "But it would be wrong. And it would endanger many lives; including hers." He stated through clenched teeth.

"Hn." Neji nodded. What the man said was exactly the reason why the rule against close relations being paired up as teammates existed.

"For that reason I must let others decide." Ijinu stated; his deep raspy voice sounding much calmer than it previously had. "It is also for that reason, _we_" He stressed the word. "must decide _now_ to restrain our impulses."

"I-" The Hyuga began protesting his objections.

"Share in the same kind of weakness." Ijinu cut the younger man off.

He didn't deny it. He couldn't. Though the older shinobi did not specify, Neji understood what he was implying. Though he didn't want to admit that Tenten was a weakness for him, the Hyuga couldn't deny the fact that he too felt exactly as Ijinu had described. He wanted to jump off the building and race into the dark forest to find Tenten. He wanted to tear the world apart to find where it was hiding her. He wanted to ignore the decision to wait until the festival to rescue her. He wanted her. Next to him; with him…

"Haah." Neji dejectedly sighed; closing his eyes tightly as he tired to suppress the growing rage and desire to scream, that was building up in him. Ijinu was right; his mind was not as clear as it should have been. The anxiety in him was building; his body almost visibly trembling with the need to do something; anything.

"Accepting one's weakness is the first step to conquering it." Ijinu monotonously stated as he once more turned his gaze upward into the night's sky.

As he watched the older shinobi, Neji couldn't quite understand how the Inuzuka was able to maintain his cool composure. Neji had always been one to remain unaffected by his surrounding; stoic in every sense of the word. He could suppress much; but at the moment, given what was at stake, he couldn't contain himself. He knew his anxiety had to be obvious, because he knew he was doing a poor job of holding it in. But Ijinu… he seemed almost eerily serene as he calmly stared up at the moon.

"Ha!" The feral-eyed shinobi exclaimed as he ferociously leapt up 20 feet into the air, like a wild animal snatching its prey from above. As the older man none-to gracefully landed on all fours from his high jump, Neji noticed something tucked in the man's right hand. "Hn." Ijinu stood himself upright again, as he eyed the small hawk he had caught.

"Impressive." A voice called out from behind the two shinobi. Turning to face the owner of the voice, Neji tensed at the sight of bandana-wearing Captain, walking out of the door leading to the rooftop terrace. He wasn't sure why, but the man seemed to Neji to be hiding something from them, and that bothered him. It bothered him because it meant he knew something about Tenten and her sister, and he wasn't telling them. "I believe you have something of mine." Captain Hakumi extended his hand out to the wild-eyed man, who apparently also didn't seem too fond of the Captain. Reluctantly, Ijinu released the hawk, who immediately flew to its master. "Hn." Captain Hakumi eyed the small scroll previously attached to the hawk's back. "This complicates things…"

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**_**TBC  
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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Ejiki ("prey") for those of you who have forgotten, is the Fake-Dragon Lord's mistress.


	20. Tied Together

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: The site was acting up when I uploaded this chapter, and I noticed the alert didn't go out, so I reuploaded so that those who relay on the alert actually get it ;)  
WARNING: Cliffy… sort of… but not really…

**_THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!_**

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TIED TOGETHER  
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_The first time she had even known love, was from a little boy in a red bandana that came to visit her in the palace gardens once a month. He was a nice little boy; with messy brown hair, and eyes the color of emeralds. The little boy had a warm and friendly smile that made his jewel-like eyes shine with the bright sparkle of the sea; from where he came from. He was older than her; but only by a few years._

_Since as far back as the little girl could remember, he would come to see her every full moon day; when the Sisterhood was busy. The boy was always a little dirty, and smelled a little fishy, but that was just part of his charm. It was how the little girl remembered him even when he wasn't there; the smell of the ocean breeze, or a fish frying over a grill always made her think of the little boy in the red bandana._

_"Why do you visit me?" The little girl asked him one day, as the two of them sat peacefully in a side garden where no one could see them._

_"Baka!" The little boy scolded, as he fiddled with something in his pocket. "Why shouldn't I visit you?" He retorted._

_"I… I mean," The little girl hesitated. "Why only me?" She wondered._

_There was nothing special about her. Sure, she was the daughter of the High Priestess, and a Sister-in-training, but other than that, she really wasn't anyone important. In fact, she was so unimportant, that no one usually ever paid much attention to her; especially not her mother. But for some reason, the little pirate boy always treated her with such kindness. Every time he visited, he brought stories and tales of worlds she could only hope to see in her wildest dreams, but never dream to see in person. Because, even at a young age, the little girl knew she was a prisoner to the People's Palace; and she always would be. Surrounded by a multitude, but loved by none; at least that's how she felt. But him… the little boy who smelled of fish… he _did_ care._

_"Here." The little boy roughly pulled something out of his pocket and handed to it her._

_"What is it?" The little girl eyed the small objected in her hand. It was a thin, knotted rope running through a hole in three small shells. Each shell had a different color sea-glass wired into it; a blue one, a red one; and a white one. Though it was simple and crude, to the little girl it was very pretty. "You made this?" She asked the little boy._

_"Tch." He scoffed; turning away to try and conceal the slight blush in his cheeks. "Why would I do that? I just found it." He lied. The little girl knew he was lying. She could see from the cuts and rope burns on his fingers that he had worked very hard to make the little bracelet._

_"ffh." She sniffed. The little girl didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help it. It was the first time anyone had ever given her a gift._

_"What are you crying for?" The little boy scolded, as he turned back to face her._

_"I-I…" She gasped tearfully. "Thank you." The little girl smiled up gratefully at the boy._

_"Tch." The little boy scoffed; again, turning away as a slight blush once more crept up on him. "It's not like it's anything special." He replied; bringing his right arm up to show her he was wearing an identical bracelet as the one he'd just handed her. "So don't make such a big deal about it."_

_"Okay." The little girl nodded._

_"Hn." The little boy grunted. "Put it on already!" He added, before turning back to face the girl straight on._

_"Okay." She nodded again; fidgeting with the bracelet to try and put it on her wrist._

_"Here!" The little boy grabbed the bracelet and the little girl's wrist to put it on her. "This knot here," He pointed to a solitary knot, separate from the ones with the shells in the middle. "It lets you stretch this thing out wider so you can keep wearing it even when you're older."_

_"Oh." The little girl stared down in amazement at how the boy made the bracelet bigger and smaller, as he taught her how to do it. "It is wonderful. Thank you very much." She smiled up at the boy._

_"Tch." He embarrassingly scratched the tip of his pointed chin; the way an old man might do. "It aint that big a deal ya know."_

_For the first time in weeks, the little girl felt so happy she could cry. But she didn't, because she knew he wouldn't like it. Still, her happiness could not be contained as she smiled widely at the bandana-wearing boy. For weeks she had been having horrible nightmares of bad things happening. It was nice to feel a little happiness for a change._

_"Haku." The little girl called out to the boy._

_"Hn?" He nodded for her to go on._

_Looking down at her new pretty bracelet, the little girl began to grow nervous at the meaning behind such a wonderful gift. "You're coming back right?" She hesitantly asked._

_"What?" The little boy stared at her curiously. "I've been visiting you since before you could even talk, haven't I?" He reminded her of their long history._

_"Hai." She nodded timidly._

_"So then why would you think I wouldn't keep doing it?" The little boy skeptically asked._

_"It's just…" She nervously stared down at her new bracelet. "It seems like… a goodbye…"_

_"What?!" The little boy quizzically looked at her. "Baka!" He scolded. "If you're going to think that way, maybe I should just take it back." He reached out for the bracelet._

_"NO!" She shouted; pulling her wrist protectively towards her._

_"Fine." The little boy sighed; bringing his own hand back away from the bracelet. "But don't say stupid things like that anymore, or I really will take it away." He threatened._

_"Okay." The little girl solemnly nodded; unable to shake the feeling that they really might never see each other again._

_"We'll meet again." He confidently asserted; having guessed what the little girl was thinking._

_"Really?" She stared up at the little boy's bright green eyes._

_"Trust me." He reassuringly smiled._

_"Promise?" She timidly asked._

_"Yeah, yeah." The little boy dismissively nodded. "Just be sure to work on that attitude of yours. You can't be such a crybaby, Maki."_

_"Okay." The little girl nodded through tearful sniffles._

_"See there you go again!" He scolded. "I'm really going to take it back this time if you don't start acting braver!"_

_"No." The little girl protectively clutched her hand against her chest. "I promise, I'll be brave." She added, as she gently ran her finger over the small shells and sea-glass. "I promise."  
_

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"Hn." Captain Hakumi fiddled with the crude bracelet on his right wrist. He had never taken it off since that day nearly sixteen years earlier. The last day he ever saw _her_; the last day of the former Kingdom of Gesshoku.

He could still remember it all, as if were only yesterday. That day, after leaving the People's Palace, Hakumi had set out to sea on his grandfather's ship like he did every month. Little did he realize the next time he returned to the gardens, a new regime would be in place, and everyone important to him in the Palace would be dead. It was wrong. And even at the tender age of ten, Hakumi had known that he had to do something to make it right again. And he promised himself would. The bracelet had been a constant reminder of that promise; a promise which he still fully intended to keep…

"Oi." A growling voice called out to the solitary man as he stood in the shadows of the night, overlooking the dark forest outside his rebel's headquarters.

"Yes?" Captain Hakumi turned toward the feral-eyed man who, over the past few days, had been suspiciously glaring at him.

"That bracelet…" The man's glare deepened.

"What about it?" Captain Hakumi replied; remaining completely unnerved under the deathly glare the other man was aiming at him.

"I've seen it before." The other man stated.

"Oh?" Captain Hakumi smirked. Of course he knew the other man had undoubtedly seen the same bracelet many times before. From what he had noticed, in the short time he had seen them together, Hakumi knew the fang-faced man and the missing blue-eyed girl shared something between them; something beyond mere friendship. The fact that they weren't who they had claimed to be when they first boarded his ship notwithstanding; the way the two of them looked at one another clearly indicated they were most likely lovers; an interesting development considering the girl's background. "It's nothing special." He lied; echoing the words of years ago.

"Grrr." The feral-eyed man softly growled; turning away from Captain Hakumi, having clearly realized he was not going to be getting any information from him concerning the bracelet.

For a moment, the two men remained silent; standing guard for the night, as the rest of their group (both rebels, as well as the fang-faced man's team) slept scattered throughout the few rooms inside the warehouse.

He knew, of course, that there was nothing to fear from them; Hakumi could tell they were good people just from the concern they showed for the two missing girls. It was clear to him that the two females were important to them; and not just (as they claimed) because they were their charges. Loyalty to ones friends and comrades was a sign of an honest man; Hakumi had always believed that. To see it in these men, he knew that it meant they were good and trustworthy people. Though he was aware they were suspicious of him (with just cause), he also knew they would not betray him. His fear, however, was that at least two of them might act rashly; especially given the news he had just received a few hours earlier.

"About that message…" The feral-eyed man broke the silence.

"Hn?" Captain Hakumi turned over to stare at the younger man standing behind him.

"Something's happened with the girls hasn't it?" The man questioned.

"Hn." Captain Hakumi nodded. "But they are not in danger." He attempted to sound reassuring. "No more than they were before, that is."

"Hn." The younger man nodded; surprisingly remaining much calmer than Hakumi had expected him to.

His initial impression of the man had been of one who would fall into a heated rage at the slightest indication of trouble. Observing him now, as he smoldered in his rage, but maintain self-controlled, Hakumi realized he had obviously been mistaken.

"Well?" The feral-eyed man waited for him to continue.

"Hn." Captain Hakumi considered whether or not to tell him. It would undoubtedly trouble the man to hear what he had learned, but under the circumstances, he couldn't deny that he had a right to know. "The boy, with the white eyes…" Hakumi began.

"What about him?" The feral-eyed man menacingly replied; a gleam in his eyes told Hakumi that the younger man felt some protectiveness toward the white-eyed boy.

"It might be best to withhold what I am about to tell you, from this young man." Captain Hakumi cautioned.

"Oh?" The fang-faced man arched an eyebrow.

"Hn." Hakumi nodded; taking the fact that the younger man had no protested as a sign that he would consider the advice. "The message was written before your women were taken to the People's Palace." He paused to allow the significance of that information to sink in. "It seems that the reason Lord Juushin 'requested' their presence was because he is convinced that one of them is the heir of the former Dragon Lord." He paused again to observe the other man's reaction. It was interesting. Though a brief expression of surprise did cross the feral-eyed man's face, it did not appear that he was surprised by the idea that one of the girls might be the heir of the former Lord. "Hn. Interesting…"

"…" The feral-eyed man arched his left brow; clearly having realized he had given something away. "What was the rest of the message?" He asked.

"Hn." Hakumi eyed the younger man curiously; wondering just how much he actually knew. "The message expressed a belief about Lord Juushin's intentions toward the heir."

"And those would be?" The fang-faced man waited.

"He intends to marry her."

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Marriage?" Himakai repeated what her younger sister had just informed her of.

Up until Tenten burst into the room moments earlier, Himakai had been resting peacefully for the first time in months. She had even managed to squeeze in a few minutes of sleep, and dreamt a pleasant dream for the first time in a long time. A dream of a memory long forgotten… but cherished nonetheless.

And then Tenten walked in; in a fury of panic and uncertainty. Despite how angry and hurt she had been when she ran out of the room hours earlier, Tenten had not hesitated to run back and tell her older sister everything she had overheard the two Sisters talking about.

"That's right." Tenten nodded. "The older one said that it was likely that if you denied his proposal, he'd either force you to marry him, or… he'll kill you."

"Kill me…" Himakai quietly repeated; absent-mindedly running her fingers over the crude little bracelet hidden under her long sleeve kimono.

She agreed with the Sister's conclusions, but there was something else they hadn't seemed to consider… Himakai knew it was true that if she denied the Usurper's request, she would more than likely be killed, but the question was… what would happen to Tenten?

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**A/N**: REVIEW! tell me what you all think!


	21. Ignoring the Obvious

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N: **I dare anyone to be surprise I'm updating at 4am again ;P

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**IGNORING THE OBVIOUS  
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Tenten stared at the white marble bust engraved into the large circular fountain, as she stood in the court yard overlooking the high fortress walls that surrounded the palace. The deep-set eyes of the former Dragon Lord bore into her soul. There was something familiar about the face looking up at her from the side of the fountain. He looked like someone she had known; or at least, that's how the kunoichi felt. Perhaps, she wondered, he reminded her of Himakai. But as she continued looking at the bust, Tenten failed to see the resemblance between the two.

"Hn." Tenten furrowed her brow, wondering why that was. "Himakai must take after her mother…" Tenten reasoned; shrugging her shoulders dismissively.

It didn't really matter anyway; there were many other more important questions for her to try and figure out. Questions like, why Himakai had agreed to marry Lord Juushin.

For the last three days since their arrival at the People's Palace, Tenten had been searching the palace for weapons, escape routes, and anything else that might help them. Along the way, she had pieced together a story about what had happened sixteen years earlier. She had discovered that a bloody coup, led by Lord Juushin, had destroyed the former Dragon Lord's forces, and eliminated everyone that stood in his way. And now the very man that had killed her parents wanted to marry Himakai. And she had accepted.

It made no sense…

Even taking into account that their lives were quite possibly in grave danger (a fact which Tenten had become aware of after noticing the number of swordsmen visibly guarding the Palace grounds), and the fact that Lord Juushin might very well kill Himakai if she didn't accept to marry him, it still didn't make sense that the blue-eyed kunoichi would actually agree to marry the man that had murdered her family. No, that wasn't entirely true. Actually it _did_ make prefect sense… if what she wanted was to stall until their rescue arrived. What _didn't_ make sense was the fact that the wedding was in three drays, and Himakai had agreed to _that_.

Given that it had taken them a little over a day and a half to arrive at the palace, through dense forests and convoluted paths, Tenten found it difficult to imagine the guys would be able to make it through the forest to a place they'd never seen before, in less than a week… and at most, they would have only had about a day or two on their journey so far, which meant there was no way they would arrive in time to rescue them before the wedding. So why then, had Himakai agreed to such terms?

"What is she thinking?" Tenten whispered; frustrated by the current situation.

"Who?" A pure, yet strongly masculine, voice called out from behind the kunoichi.

"Haah." She gasped, as she turned to face the owner of said voice. "Ahh…um…" The kunoichi nervously stepped back; closer into the fountain.

"Do you mean your 'sister'?" Lord Juushin calmly approached her from across the courtyard.

"Um…" She wasn't sure why, but for some reason the man terrified her. It wasn't like he was particularly scary looking; in fact, he was quite attractive. It also wasn't due to the fact that she knew what he'd done; after all, she had faced off against a number of murderous men before. But for some reason… there was just something about him that made her skin crawl and every nerve in her body scream for her to run.

"You seem troubled." The green haired man smoothly stated, as he stopped directly in front of the kunoichi.

"I…" She nervously stammered; her hand unconsciously jumping up to her head, making sure her hair was pulled down, just as Himakai had instructed her. "I was just thinking that… this is all happening so fast." She replied; thinking it was best to remain honest, while not entirely disclosing the actual meaning behind her words.

"Hn." The Lord nodded understandingly. "I suppose it would seem so to one unfamiliar with the world of royal-politics." He paused; furrowing his brow as he squinted to stare at the kunoichi. "However," He began again, after shaking his head as if to dismiss some thought. "Though your 'sister' was raised in your family's lifestyle," He repeated a piece of the story Himakai had fed him the first time they sat to eat a meal together. "She is still a princess, and was thus exposed to the world of nobility, in which this sort of thing is common place. She understands it, and knows this is her fate." He paused again to scrutinizingly stare at the kunoichi. "I am certain, however, that having her 'sister' supporting her would be of great comfort to the princess." He added with a none-too sincere smile.

"I…" Tenten nervously chewed on her lower lip; briefly wondering why he kept staring at her. "Yes." She nodded. "I suppose you are right."

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That wasn't right.

Himakai stared down quizzically at the tape the old woman standing in front of her was currently using to measure her bust size. It wasn't right at all, and neither was the size the old woman had taken of her waist earlier, which was at least three inches more than Himakai last remembered it being.

Over the last few weeks, the blue-eyed kunoichi _had_ noticed that her body felt heavier, and she'd been feeling fatigued, but because there were so many other things to concern herself with, Himakai hadn't really paid much attention to it. Now, looking down at measuring tape, as the old woman made notes on her clipboard, Himakai couldn't help but notice the difference in her body. She did feel heavier; and fuller too. She was normally never one for worrying about dieting and that sort of nonsense, what with possessing the metabolism of a kunoichi, but apparently, Himakai realize, she must have gone too easy during the last few weeks, because she couldn't recall ever before having gained that much weight in so short a time…

"Princess?" The old woman called out.

"Yes?" The kunoichi shook herself of her thoughts.

"What kind of embroidery would you like on the dress?" The old woman asked, as she pointed toward the roll of white fabric sitting on the table next to them.

"Embroidery?" Himakai repeated questioningly.

As she stared at the white folds of fabric, Himakai couldn't help but think about how odd it felt to be deciding on a pattern for a wedding dress she would wear to marry a man who wasn't the one she had expected; or wanted… "Haah." She sighed. As much as she hated the decision she had made, it couldn't be helped. As a child she had been brought up to believe that above all else, the Sisterhood of the Moon always came first. She was a daughter of the Sisterhood, and as such, it was her duty to do everything possible to protect the Dragon Lord's clan. Everything! As much as it pained her to know what she would be giving up, Himakai couldn't go against her blood. But more importantly, she wanted something better than stifling rules and isolating tradition (regardless of how noble they maybe), for her little sister.

In the years she and Tenten had spent in Konoha, it had always been a constant struggle for Himakai to find balance between being the good sister, and the dutiful servant. She had never quite figured out what was the right thing to do; whether to teach Tenten the truth about her noble roots, or to let her live a normal life amongst the common anonymous masses. She had decided, ultimately, that the only thing that really matter was that Tenten was happy. And though recent weeks had not seemed of the most pleasant nature, Himakai knew Tenten _was_ happy in her life. She had friends who cared for her, and a boy she loved, who (as of yet) had only the need to build up the courage to tell her he felt the same. It was a good life, and if it meant Himakai had to give up her own happiness to let her sister keep it, the blue-eyed kunoichi was prepared to make that sacrifice…

It was, after all, her duty. But more importantly, she wanted this for her sister.

"Haah." Himakai sighed again as she looked at the simple white fabric. "No." She shook her head. "There is no need for embroidery." She sullenly replied to the old woman.

"Very well." The woman nodded. "I will begin working on it right away then."

"Hai." Himakai slowly nodded; waving the woman away. She needed rest. Needed to sleep to keep herself from breaking down into tears at the thought of everything she would be giving up. "Haaa." She exhaled tearfully; both hands cupping her head as she walked over toward the bed. "I should be grateful." She whispered to herself as she got on the bed. "I've known what no other Sister ever has…"

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"What are you saying?" The fuming Ijinu asked the rest of the team, as he paced angrily back and forth through the small storage room where the six shinobi had been sleeping for the last few days as the Rebels assembled their plan and began preparing for the attack on the People's Palace in four days time.

"We told you already!" Kiba yelled at his big brother. "We don't know what happened!"

"Grrr." He growled doubtfully. "So you expect me to believe," He threateningly glared at the 3 younger shinobi. "that four trained shinobi slept in this room all night, and nobody noticed _anything_?!?!"

"Pretty much." Shikamaru nodded uninterestedly, from the other side of the room.

"YOSH!" The bowl-haired boy, sitting cross-legged at the center of the room, pumped his fist in the air enthusiastically. "My eternal rival has indeed become most proficient in his abilities at stealth!" He cheered.

"WHAT?!" Ijinu turned his wrathful attention toward the younger boy.

"He's not wrong." Shikamaru opined from the other side. "Hyuga's are especially adept at stealth." He informed the older man. "And Neji's probably the best of his clan."

"Yup." Kiba nodded in agreement with the lazy-nin.

"That may be so," Ijinu spoke through clenched teeth. "But that doesn't excuse the lack of alertness in this room!"

"Well, it's not like we expected him to take off." Kiba countered. "He's normally not that impulsive."

"It is true." Lee vigorously nodded. "Neji-san always follows the shinobi guidelines!"

"That is correct!" A booming voice from behind Ijinu called everyone's attention toward the door. "However!" Gai loudly bellowed. "My genius pupil has always been hot-headed when it comes to the flower of our team!" He added.

"Agh." Ijinu groaned; he was pretty sure he could guess what came next.

"The Captain and I," Gai began, as he and Captain Hakumi entered the room. "Have discovered why my foolish pupil has disappeared."

"Yes," Captain Hakumi nodded; entering the room with a crumpled up piece of paper.

"What's that?" Kiba inquired about the paper.

"It is a letter that arrived late last night." The Captain informed them.

"What's it say?" Ijinu demanded; though he was fairly certain he could guess exactly what was in the note.

"It announces that the girl whose been mistaken for the daughter of the former Dragon Lord, is to be married to Lord Juushin in three days." He announced; staring directly at the older Inuzuka as he said it.

"WHAT?!" Lee jumped to his feet excitedly. "Tenten-san has been mistaken for a princess?!?!"

"That's not what he said." Shikamaru dully replied.

"Yeah!" Kiba, who had also seemed shocked by the news, yelled at the older boy. "Besides, it's obviously Himakai-san who's the princess!" He opined.

"It doesn't say either of the girls name!" Ijinu interrupted the group of younger men before they strayed too far off topic.

"That's true." Captain Hakumi nodded. "And perhaps that is why when the Hyuga boy retrieved the massage off of my hawk, he assumed it was the younger girl."

"That makes sense." Gai nodded; a serious look on his face as he considered it. "To him, Tenten-san would be the most likely choice."

"That's true." Shikamaru agreed; curiously watching the Captain and Ijinu as the two men eyed one another. "But we seem to be ignoring the most important part of the letter." He informed the group.

"Yeah? What's that?" Kiba questioningly eyed the lazy genius.

"This wedding is supposed to take place in three days." Shikamaru replied; knowing that at least two of them had already understood what this meant. "But the rebel attack isn't scheduled until the Dragon Moon Festival… the day after the wedding…"

"HAAH!" Lee and Gai loudly gasped. "That means…" Lee tearfully began. "Our most precious flower will be married by then!" He gasped.

"Not necessarily." Shikamaru replied; more so because he was fairly certain that Neji would arrive in time to stop said wedding, even if the rest of them didn't arrive in time; but also because he was fairly certain Tenten wasn't the one who would be getting married… "The letter doesn't specify who's marrying this Lord Juushin, or does it?" He questioned as he continued to observe the two men in the room who seemed to know more than the rest of them.

"Actually," Captain Hakumi began, as he continued watching the elder Inuzuka brother. "It does."

"It does?" Ijinu stared intently at the bandana-wearing man.

"It does." Captain Hakumi repeated.

"Well?" Kiba, along with the rest of them, impatiently waited. "Who is it?" He asked.

"'The girl whose been mistaken for the daughter of the former Dragon Lord.'" Shikamaru repeated the carefully written words Captain Hakumi had previously read to them; certain he had deciphered their true meaning. "Meaning the _real_ princess won't be the one to be getting married in three days…" He concluded.

"Hime…" Ijinu shockingly gasped under his breath; confirming the lazy-nin's suspicions.

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**_**A/N**: I was going to add in a 4th scene with Neji, but I'll save that for the next chapter ;)

Oh, also one more thing... I have some fanart on my deviantart page with Ijinu and Captain Hakumi, plus a Hakumi/Himakai childhood fanart, and of course a ton more Nejiten stuff... ;)


	22. Reckless

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

WARNING: CLIFF HANGER OF DOOM!!! Sorry but I had to cut it off there… but hey, I updated in 2 days! And I probably shouldn't take too long for the update. ;) might be more than 2 though cos I start school on Thursday (agh 8am classes… so going to kill myself!)

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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The late afternoon sun drifted down behind the massive trees lining the People's Palace; allowing a cool breeze to gently blow over the dense forest. Colossal walls encircled the Palace, where dozens of large samurai were strategically positioned to guard against intruders. From his vantage point, high above the fortress walls, Neji could see that the People's Palace would not be an easy place to break into. But after watching the swordsmen standing guard all day, he had determined that it was not impossible; at least, not for him.

Stealth was an ability the Hyuga had always proved to be exceptionally good at; furthermore, with the strength of his eyes and the speed he had acquired training under Gai's tutelage, Neji could easily see the smallest of openings in an enemy's defenses and slip through them undetected.

_This_ was exactly the type of scenario he was made for…

"Hn." Neji deactivated his Byakugan.

After careful observation of the palace guard's vigilant patrolling, he was certain he had found his way in. The only concern the Hyuga had now, was trying to figure out a way for him to get to Tenten. Her chakra signature was simple enough for him to detect, but kept moving back and forth so much during the day that it was difficult to pinpoint a position where she would stay for more than just a few minutes. Neji wasn't sure exactly what it was she was doing, but he could guess; Tenten was a smart and resourceful girl, she was probably trying to find a way out. That, at least, was what he was hoping she was doing. The alternative, that she were walking around the palace taking care of wedding preparations, was not an option Neji wanted to consider…

Two days earlier, during his assigned watch at the warehouse where he and the rest of his team had been staying with the Rebels, Neji had gone into a near-panic from reading the message that had arrived about the kingdom's Lord's wedding. Although the message did not specify who he would be marrying, fear and adrenaline began coursing through Neji at the possibility that it might be Tenten who the Lord had mistaken for a Princess. Though he was aware that it could just as easily have been Tenten's older sister who had been mistaken as the long lost Princess, something in the Hyuga told him Himakai was not the Princess. He wasn't sure exactly what it was that made him believe that; perhaps the fact that fate had been so cruel to him of late, and having Tenten marry some other man would just seem fitting to the way things had been progressing between them in the last few weeks, but for some reason Neji just knew…

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"I'm sure of it!" Tenten adamantly asserted as she held back her sister's long black hair, while Himakai painfully hunched over the ceramic bowl in the room. "And _this_" She referred to her sister's current condition. "Is probably your own subconscious mind agreeing with me that this is a bad plan!"

"Agh." Himakai pulled her head back up, throwing it back as she gasped up for breath. "Haa, haa, haa. Agh." She groaned; turning back down to continue her uncontrollable purging.

"Well, either that…" Tenten pulled her older sister's hair back out of the way of her vomit. "… or you're pregnant." She mumbled quietly.

"What?!" Himakai turned, wide-eyed, to stare at the bun-haired kunoichi.

"What?" Tenten stared back, unsure of why her sister had reacted so shocked. Could it be…?

"Nothing." Himakai shook her head dismissively, before standing up to walk over to the small sink in the corner of the washroom.

"Annnnnywaaaay…" Tenten followed as Himakai walked back into the bedroom the two sisters were sharing. "I think this is a horrible idea!" She repeated her opinion for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"Haaah." Himakai sighed loudly before taking a seat on the large bed in the center of the room. "I don't disagree." She whispered calmly.

"Then why are you going through with this?!?" Tenten anxiously asked.

"Ehm." The blue-eyed kunoichi rose to her feet again; walking over towards the younger girl. "What other options do we have?" She quietly questioned, before gently tugging on the agitated kunoichi's trademark buns; pulling them back down over Tenten's shoulders like she kept reminding the younger girl to do when she was walking around the palace.

"We could try escaping!" Tenten exclaimed; feeling her older sister's fingertips softly trace along the length of the small serpent-like birthmark she had running across the back of her neck.

"You've seen the number of guards." Himakai reminded the younger girl. "Their formation is practically perfect."

"Nothing is _ever_ completely perfect though." Tenten retorted.

"No." Himakai nodded in agreement. "But without a large enough distraction, it'll be near impossible for _us_ to penetrate the walls of the Palace to escape."

"Then we create a distraction!" Tenten offered; with the few things she had found during her search of the Palace, Tenten was certain she could easily create a large enough explosion to distract the guards and allow them to slip out during the confusion.

"A big bomb will not distract these men." Himakai replied; knowing exactly what her little sister had been thinking. "It would only intensify their alertness."

"Then how?" Tenten desperately plead for any sort of an answer.

"The Dragon Moon Festival." Himakai confidently replied. "It is the one day of the year, when the gates open and every citizen in the surrounding villages is invited into the Palace to celebrate the founding of the Kingdom of Gesshoku with the Dragon Lord." She informed the younger girl. "It is the perfect opportunity to come in and out of the People's Palace without alerting any unwanted attention."

"Well that's all well and good," Tenten skeptically replied. "But in case you've forgotten, the Festival isn't until two days from now… and _you_ are getting married TOMORROW!" She emphasized the last word, as it was the most important part of why that planned sucked! "And even if that was our only option, it's not like you're going to be left alone for a single moment during the festival, since, as you clearly explained to me the other day, the whole point in marrying you the day before the festival was so that Lord Juushin could legitimize his rule by presenting you to the public on the day of Dragon Moon Festival." She reminded her older sister. "Which basically means you're not going to be able to-" Tenten suddenly stopped talking as realization finally hit her. "No!" She shook her head. "Absolutely not!"

"It's the only way." Himakai calmly asserted; knowing her sister had figured out that plan meant only Tenten would escape.

"No way!" Tenten adamantly refused. "Ijinu would kill me!"

"He would not dare." Himakai plainly denied such a notion.

"Ack." Tenten scoffed disbelievingly. "Have you even considered him in all this?"

"Of course I have." Himakai immediately replied; a little too quickly. It was almost as if she was trying _not_ to think about the elder Inuzuka brother. "He will understand." She somberly whispered.

"What?!" Tenten excitedly exclaimed. "No!" She protested. "I don't think so!" She cried out. "He'd sooner tear down the entire Palace piece by piece, with his bare hands, killing everything and everyone in his path, than let you marry some other guy!"

"He _will_ understand." Himakai repeated. But the younger girl was quite certain it was more in effort to try and convince herself, than anything else.

"I disagree." Tenten replied; shaking her head. "Ijinu may be understanding about A LOT of things, but he's been in love with you since before I can even remember, and I very much doubt, after chasing you for years, he's going to give up without a fight!" She excitedly asserted. "Because you _don't_ give up that easily when you love someone!"

"Oh no?" Himakai questioningly stared down at her younger sister. "But you will give up after one silly fight?" She questioned; making it oblivious she was referring to what had occurred between the weapons mistress and her sparring partner.

"That-- That's different." Tenten sullenly whispered; turning her head down to face the carpeted floor below.

"Is it?" Himakai calmly retorted.

"It is." Tenten nodded solemnly.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"You're wrong!" Kiba angrily growled at his older brother as the two of them sniffed the air around them; the three other shinobi following closely behind while the Inuzuka brothers lead the way through the dense forest.

"I'm NOT!" Ijinu growled back, as he directed them to follow him toward the left, while his younger brother directed them straight.

"We should have just brought Akamaru and Hanyo with us." (**1**) Kiba growled in response; referring to the fact that the two nin-dogs, who had arrived at the warehouse just before the shinobi departed for the People's Palace, had been left behind to help the Rebels, under Shikamaru's suggestion that using the two wolf-like beasts would likely help against the superstitious wolf-fearing nature of the Gesshoku guards.

"Grrr." Ijinu snared at the younger man. "I know my Hime's scent!" He countered.

"We're supposed to be following Neji!" Kiba retorted, reminding his brother of their assignment to prevent the Hyuga from ruining the Rebel's surprise attack.

"Listen runt!" Ijinu stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed his younger brother's shirt by the collar. "I don't owe these Rebels _anything_!" He growled loudly. "So I ain't gonna lose MY HIME by playing their little war game!" He barked.

"FINE!" Kiba barked back. "But don't do anything stupid!"

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Hn." Neji stared into the Palace with his Byakugan activated. For a brief moment he wondered if he was doing something stupid.

He remembered, only days earlier, Ijinu had warned him about acting reckless. As he now stood, outside the People's Palace, waiting for his opportunity to slip in unnoticed, the Hyuga had to question himself. Was he being reckless? Were his emotions clouding his better judgment? Should he have waited for the others? Should he have stuck to the plan?

"No." He couldn't second guess himself now. He needed to concentrate and wait his moment. He needed to get through the line of guards, into the Palace, to "Tenten…" He stopped; seeing the girl he loved exit onto a secluded balcony, in the perfect spot where none of the swordsmen where patrolling…

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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Hanyo, for those of you who don't remember, is Ijinu's dog (means half demon/half human)… oh and to those who have been reading from the start, yes, I renamed him… it was "Oynah" before (which is Hanyo backwards), but I got annoyed with it, so I redid it now while no one is yet attached to the name…

**A/N**: Mwahaha!!! Hehe I'm so evil!


	23. A Tearful Confession

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**A TEARFUL CONFESSION  
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Dusk.

The guards were going through their shift change. In the days she had been surveying them, this was the only breach in an otherwise perfect patrol that Tenten had found; the only moment when it was possible to slip in or out of the People's Palace. The only problem, of course, was that from her position, it was useless. It would be challenging enough to slip in from the high rising forest, but near impossible to use as an escape from the balcony to the treetops, as the height difference between the two positions was cumbersome for the purposes of escape.

"Haah." Tenten sighed; disappointed and heartbroken, as she looked out into the empty courtyard below.

With all the drama and chaos of the last few days, the kunoichi had unknowingly allowed herself to completely forget about her own problems. For nearly the entire week, she hadn't thought about Neji or the heartache she felt at knowing she had probably lost him forever; not only as a romantic possibility, but as a friend as well. It was the latter part that hurt the most. Though she had loved him for years now, the one thing that had made her unrequited affections worth suffering through was the fact that she was confident they would always remain friends.

And his friendship meant the world to her…

"Haah." The kunoichi sighed again.

She regretted having ignored him after he had ignored her. It had been childish and cowardly. She knew that; she had even known it when she was doing it. But the pain of realizing that he did not feel the same as she did had blinded her to that fact. And as a result, now they didn't speak to each other at all…

"I'm such a coward." Tenten whisperingly reprimanded herself.

Confronting him would have been painful, but at least then she would have known she tried. Tenten regretted having allowed things to end up the way they did. Even though she had always believed what she told Himakai: that love was something which needed to be fought for. Sadly, she hadn't lived up to her own advice.

She was disappointed in herself…

"Haah." The kunoichi sighed dejectedly.

"Tenten." A somber, baritone voice whispered her name behind her.

"Haah!" She gasped; unsure if she had really heard what she thought she heard.

_.:.:.:.:.(1)_

Tenten was right in front of him… The girl he loved; the girl he longed for. Right there; a mere few inches from where he stood. If he wanted to, Neji could reach out at that moment and touch her…

He could barely believe he had found her so quickly; that she had ended up standing exactly where the breach had been. Maybe that meant something. Maybe for once fate was working with him, instead of trying so hard to make his life miserable (which so often seemed to be the case).

"Tenten." Neji somberly called out her name; he whispered it so softly, it was almost as if he barely believed she was there.

"Haah!" She gasped at his touch, as he spun her around; resisting the urge to pull her towards him. "Neji…" Her whispered voice sounded pained and disbelieving. "Are you…" She reached out with her left hand; searching his eyes for validation that he was really there; that he was really him…

The gentle touch of her fingers on his cold flesh sent electrifying shockwaves down his spine, as he looked longingly into her eyes. "Tenten…" He whispered her name again as he stepped closer towards her; feeling the urge to hold her in his arm pulling at him stronger than ever before.

"I love you."

"…" Tenten's eyes grew to twice their normal size, as she stared disbelievingly at the Hyuga. "What?" She whispered softly.

Neji wasn't sure who was more surprised by his abrupt confession; her… or him…

For years he had wanted to say those three small, yet profoundly meaningful, words to the bun-haired kunoichi; but fear and doubt had kept him from saying them. Now, as the two of them stood on unfamiliar ground, away from everything and everyone they knew, in danger of being caught and killed at a moment's notice… those powerful, heartfelt words came tumbling out of him without decorative fanfare or flowery scenery…

It was not the way he had expected to confess. Not even when he had promised himself, on Captain Hakumi's ship, that the next time he saw her, he would tell her how he felt. And yet, saying them at that moment, just felt right. A weight in his heart lifted as those little words left his lips…

"Neji…?" Tenten worriedly stared at him. There was fear in her eyes, almost as if she expected him to run away again; as if she expected him to take it back, and abandon her.

He didn't blame her.

He had been a coward the last time he had attempted to show her how he felt. He had run, and left to her to try to sort out the meaning of his actions, without any sign as to the possibly on his part…

But not this time.

This time, he was not going to be a coward. She could reject him; tell him she not only did not love him, but that she hated him. Still, he would not run; he refused to run.

"I love you." He repeated; taking another step closer toward the shocked kunoichi. "I always have." He whispered with a timidness no one would have ever thought the Hyuga prodigy could possessed. "I…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "You, are the first and last thing I think about every moment of every day. When I'm with you, I … I feel… I feel as if anything were possible." His heart was beating painfully fast as he tried to put words to that which he had only ever before felt. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever met." He began again. "And not because of the way you look," He paused. "Though you are beautiful." He asserted. "But it is more than that. You… you're caring, understanding, encouraging… You believe in people, even when they don't believe in themselves. You have the ability to make me feel stronger than I, braving that I am, wiser than I am. Your laugh is intoxicating; your hard work and determination, inspirational. Every moment I spend with you, makes my life happier." The words tumbling from him in a rush, as if he were forcing himself to say them before he lost his nerve. "You mean _everything_ to me…" He painfully whispered; trying his best to keep the intense emotions he was feeling from consuming him. "You always have." He added in a quivering voice. "And my only regret is that it has taken me this long to tell you so." He paused again to keep his voice from breaking. "But my cowardice prevented me from telling you sooner because I could not bare the possibility that if I confessed, I would lose you as my friend…" His voice was tearful, though his face betrayed nothing; inside, he felt raw, as he fearfully exposed his heart to that very real possibility now. "I… Tenten," He whisperingly called her name again, as he came a mere few inches away from her; wishing he could touch her; wishing he could kiss her. "I love you." He repeated again.

"Haa. Haa." Tears ran freely down her shocked face. Neji didn't know whether that was a good sign, or a bad one. He didn't want to force his feelings on her, but he could no longer stop himself from pulling her into his arms as she cried into his shirt. "Neji…" She softly called his name through the folds of fabric.

"Hn?" He questioningly grunted; keeping his arms wrapped comfortingly around her, as anxiously waited for her next words.

"I love you too." She softly whispered.

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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) Same scene, just a shift in POV

**A/N**: I know, I know… wish we could have had a kiss in there… but… the emotion of it didn't really led itself for a kiss… yet!


	24. Unraveling

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: Fast update, I know… I'm awesome! (especially at 4am) ;P hehehe (don't expect the next one to be as fast though, it's an action chapter and those take me a while to write…)  
WARNING: SLIGHT M-ish nature… I'm keeping it T though… but… yeah this is my first hint at a lime-ish scene ;P

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**UNRAVELING  
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"_Thank you for the lovely evening." She smiled at the aging statesman as the odd couple, a beautiful young woman and balding older man, parted at the door of her small flower shop._

"_It was my pleasure." The old man returned her smile, as she opened the door to step in._

"_Goodnight." She politely bowed, before entering the flower shop and quickly closing the door behind her. "Haah." She sighed deeply; relieved that the day had finally ended._

"_I hate this mission." A growling voice from behind the door to the next room snarled._

_She'd heard that one many times already. Frankly, even she hated the assignment, but a mission was a mission…_

"_I thought you enjoyed ghost missions." She quietly pointed out, as the feral-eyed man walked out from behind the door._

"_I do." He smirked; walking up to her; watching as the blue-eyed woman removed her heavy cloak. "It's usually fun lurking in the shadows." He acknowledged. "But not when you're the bait." He added; bringing his arms gently around her now lightly covered frame._

"_Bait?" She amusedly repeated._

"_Grrr." He stared angrily at the door she had just walked in through. "Have you seen the way that old lecher looks at you?" He growled. "It's like he's ready to eat you!"_

"_Haha." She giggled; amused at the irony of who that statement was coming from._

"_I'm serious." He snarled. "And I hate how he touches you." He venomously added._

"…" _She stared up at him questioningly as he continued menacingly eyeing the door behind her. "He touches my shoulder and hands only." She pointed out._

"_It's not about _where_ he touches you." The feral-eyed man growled. "It's about _how_ he touches you."_

"…" _She smiled amusedly at his obvious jealousy._

_Despite the fact that he had been in love with her for years, he had rarely ever shown that part of him until just recently. Though jealousy was normally not a very desirable characteristic in a man, on him, she found it almost endearing. He wasn't possessive, or distrustful of her; he just genuinely didn't like other men bothering her. He never had. It was disrespectful; he claimed. Not to him, but to her. And now that he could consider her his, he had vowed to protect her from anything that would be a burden to her. _

"_So tell me…" She cooed in a sultry voice; gracefully wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled herself closer into him. "What kind of touching is inappropriate?" She moistened her lips with a gentle flick of her tongue before stretching herself up onto her toes. "Would this be wrong?" She asked seductively, before running her fingers delicately through his untamed brown locks; pressing herself deeper into his chest._

"_Hmm." He moaned softly at the contact._

"_Or…" She pushed herself up further on her toes. "Something like this?" She brushed her lips gently along the sharpness of his jaw._

"_mmm Hiiimmmmeee…" He groaned lustfully; his eyes beginning to roll to the back of his head before he reluctantly pulled away. _

"_Hehe." She giggled at the sight of him; a poor little puppy torn between his desire and duty. "Ijinu…" She purred into his ear; biting down gently on his earlobe as she pulled him back to her._

"_gggggrrrrrr." He groaned. "I hope you know what you're doing…" The feral-eyed man lustfully warned; wrapping his arms around her waist again._

"_I do…" She teasingly smirked; pulling away from him as she walked, slowly, into the other room, where the living quarters to her character's flower shop were located._

"_Hime…" He whimpered disappointedly at the sudden loss of warmth pressed against him._

"_Come." She seductively called to him from the doorframe; curling her finger invitingly towards him. "And tell me more about… inappropriate touching…" She breathily whispered the last two words._

"_Grrrrr…" He hungrily growled; desperately holding himself back from jumping the blue-eyed kunoichi right then and there._

"_ehehe." She found herself uncharacteristically blushing at the way he desperately tugged at his cumbersome clothes, as he stalked his way closer toward the bed, where she already laid waiting for him._

"_hmm…" His smoldering black eyes pierced straight into her, as he mounted the bed, directly in front of her. His glare full of raw, primal lust, burned with a fire more intense than she had ever before seen in him. She knew in that instant, the man was gone, and only the beast remained…_

"_Haah!" She gasped; her boldness fading against the hunger in his eyes. "mmm…" She moaned softly, at the first contact of his flesh on her flesh; his fingers gingerly trailing along the contours of her slender figure, while he mouth ravenously devoured hers. "haah!" She gasped, when his lips left hers, and his mouth found it's way to her neck, where he gently, but firmly, bit into her flesh; marking her, as his, similar to how a beast would mark it's mate. "aaaah." She moaned in both pain and pleasure._

"_hahaha." He softly chuckles; proud of having been able to turn the tables on the blue-eyed kunoichi. "You know," He throatily whispered, as his hands drifted down her waist. "There's a rumor going through the village…"_

"_Mmm." She moaned breathlessly. "I know." She nodded; fully aware of the rumor that her target would soon propose to her. "But… we should be gone… before…" She informed him between pants. _

"_Good." He mumbled into her shoulder; kissing his way back up to her neck, to where he had previously left his mark on her._

"_Mmm." She throatily moaned; the question of why it was good, resting lingeringly on the tip of her tongue._

"_You're my woman." He growled; answering her unasked question. "And I sure as hell won't let anyone else try to take you away." He threateningly snarled at no one in particular. "Even if it is just a mission…"_

"_Haha." She chuckled at his sudden shift back to that overprotective persona. "Is that right?"_

"_Hn." He nodded; pulling himself back up to face her in the eye. "We'll be a family someday…" He mused; his large hands resting brushing lightly against her midsection as he spoke._

"_Someday?" She repeated curiously._

"_Hai." He nodded; a secretive smile on his face. "Soon." He added._

"_Is that right?" She asked again._

"_Hn." He gingerly caressed his fingers on her stomach. "That's right." He nodded. "You… me… and all our future little pups…" He smirked playfully at the kunoichi._

"_Pups?" She smiled brightly._

"_Hai." He nodded confidently._

"…" _Her smile grew wider at the sureness in his eyes. "I'd like that…" She whispered dreamily._

_.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..END FLASHBACK.:..:..:..:..:..:..:.._

"Haa, haa, haa." Himakai awoke from her dream of the past, in a pool of tears. "haahaahaa…ooh, ooh, ooh." She painfully cried.

Himakai was grateful that Tenten wasn't there that morning; though she slightly wondered where her younger sister had gone off too; had she even come back to the room the previous night?

"ffh." She sniffed; attempting to hold back the tears. She didn't want to cry; didn't want to remember. But try as she might, she couldn't forget what she would be giving up later that day.

For many years, she had pushed Ijinu away; trapped in the ideologies of the Sisterhood of the Moon, where men were meant for the singular purpose of breeding. Where love, was not a luxury allowed to a Sister; and where male children were discarded, and sent off to be raised away from their 'mothers'.

Mother.

The women, who gave birth to Sisters, were a far stretch of the word. To the Sisterhood, family was even less familiar than the concept of Love was. It was the clan, the Sisterhood of the Moon, and the duty owed to the clan, that was the only thing that ever mattered… Those were the beliefs Himakai had been raised on; indoctrination that was difficult to defeat. Because of that, she had attempted to keep her distance, to lock her heart away, from any possibility of romance between her and any boy who chased after her. Ijinu had been the only one who had persisted; and the only one, who had ever made her feel… anything…

She had given in. She had allowed herself to be lost to the feeling of being in love, and being loved in return. She had given her heart over to it completely.

And now… she was going to lose it all.

The love she'd found, the man who brought it out of her, the family she would never have… All of it gone, because of her duty to the Sisterhood; because of the love she had for a woman who had never shown any to her. But to whom Himakai had, nonetheless, felt bonded to because of the one thing the woman _had_ given her: freedom. Momentary, and fleeting as it were; but freedom nonetheless.

"Mother." Himakai traced the outline of the small emerald stone hanging on the thin chain around her neck; hidden beneath her clothes. "Did you know?" She wondered. Had her mother known what she had given her? The opportunity to find happiness; happiness she would soon be forced to give up…

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

Give up? Was that what she was expected to do? Just give up on the man she loved?

"Why?" Ejiki questioned the green-haired man, as she watched him rise from the bed and walk over to his robes, neatly folded on the night stand. "Why must you marry that woman?" The pain in her voice was unmistakable.

"Ejiki." Lord Juushin smilingly approached the young woman, from the other side of the bed. "My love…" He gently caressed the side of her face with his hand, as he looked deeply into her eyes. "You must know I do this against my heart's true desires."

"But…" She began to protest that he was the Lord; he could do anything.

"It's politics." He interrupted. "It is for this kingdom, which we both hold so dear to our hearts." He paused; looking solemnly into the distance. "To put an end to the insurrection, and the needless death that plagues our land."

"I…" A part of her felt ashamed at her selfishness. There he was, marrying a stranger, for the good of the country, and she… jealousy hating the woman; wishing she didn't exist. "Is there no other way?" She pleadingly begged.

"My dearest Ejiki…" Lord Juushin pulled the young girl into his arms. "If I could accomplish this peace any other way…" He paused, letting his statement linger unfinished. "But, as long as there exist an Heir to fuel the Rebel's support…" He paused again; letting a silent implication hang in the air.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"What if that wasn't the case?" The Hyuga curiously questioned the kunoichi resting peacefully in his arms.

The two of them had spent nearly the entire night discussing the current situation their team found itself in. Tenten had told him all about the state of affairs in the People's Palace; how Himakai, not her, was to marry the Palace's Lord because she was some long lost princess who would legitimize his rule as Dragon Lord. She told him of the plan to have her escape during the Dragon Moon Festival; a plan which Tenten clearly was not in favor of. She also told him about the things she had learned concerning the Sisterhood of the Moon and the history of the Gesshoku; along with the coup that had occurred sixteen years earlier, from which her older sister had somehow escaped and ended up in Konoha, being raised by Tenten's parent's before they died. She had told him everything she could remember, and after informing him of the security and the training the Samurai guards practiced on a daily basis, she fell asleep in his arms. The rest of the night, Neji had watched over her; thinking about everything he now knew…

"What do you mean?" Tenten looked up at him over her shoulder.

"I mean," Neji wrapped his arms tighter around the kunoichi's lithe frame; trembling slightly from the early morning chill. "What if Himakai-san was _not_ the princess?" He questioned.

"Huh?" Tenten cocked her head to the side curiously. "Why would you think that?" She wondered aloud.

"Well…" Neji hesitantly began; questioning whether it was really his place to tell the kunoichi what he knew. "A few days ago," He began again; deciding against keeping any more secrets from her. "You discussed with Kiba about a belief that Himakai-san and Ijinu-san were keeping something from you." He reminded her of the conversation he had overheard the two having, more than a week earlier.

"Yeah…" She nodded; unsure of where the white-eyed shinobi was going with that. "But, Kiba said it was a good thing; not something to worry about."

"No." Neji shook his head. "What he said, was that the secret he knew about was a good thing; but I do not believe that is the same secret which your sister and Ijinu-san are keeping."

"…" Tenten furrowed her brow confusedly. "Why would you think that?" She questioned.

"Because I know the same secret as Kiba and Ijinu-san." Neji informed the kunoichi.

"You do?" Tenten's eyes grew wide with curiosity.

"Hai." He nodded. "Which means, that the secret Ijinu-san and Himakai-san are keeping is a different one."

"Different?" She repeated.

"…" He remained silent; wondering whether the theory he had pieced together over night, while he watched Tenten sleep, might be the explanation to everything that was going on; the reason why Himakai was willing to marry Lord Juushin, instead of trying to escape. "Tatsuki." He said the two kunoichis' surname aloud. "Tatsu, the dragon; Tsuki, the moon…"

"Dragon Moon…" Tenten whispered in awe; suddenly coming to the same implication Neji had come to the previous night.

"Did you not say it was the duty of the Sisterhood to at all times protect the Dragon Lord's clan?" Neji reminded her of what she had discovered in her investigations.

"So then…haah!" She gasped; realizing what it all meant; wondering why she hadn't seen it before. "We've got to stop this wedding…"

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**A/N**: In case anyone is wondering why Tenten never pieced this together… well come on, you grow up with a name all your life, you don't really think about what it means all that much, you just accept it as your name…


	25. The Rightful Heir

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**:  This is **NOT** the end... As with all my stories, there WILL be an Epilogue. (A NejiTen Epilogue for this one :XD: with lots of kissing!!!)

WARNING: Should be higher rating for Ijinu and his foul mouth... but we love him ;P

_**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!**_

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**_**THE RIGHTFUL HEIR  
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Tenten nervously fidgeted in her red kimono, as she silently sat in the front row of the small assembly. Around her, over a hundred of the most important and influential citizens of the Kingdom of Gesshoku and its surrounding neighbors, waited patiently to witness what was being hailed as the most important event in the kingdom in the last decade.

"Haah." Tenten sighed dejectedly.

She still couldn't believe she was just sitting there; watching as her sister forced herself into marrying a man whom it was impossible for her not to hate; a man who had killed her family, and forced her to go into hiding at a very young age. More than anything, Tenten wanted to rush up to the front of the room and tell everyone that Himakai wasn't the real princess; to reveal that she was only pretending to be the princess in order to protect her younger sister. This idea, however, along with Tenten's original plan to blow up the Palace and escape in the panic and confusion, had been quickly shot down by Neji, who instead, instructed her to wait for him to act. She wasn't sure exactly what the Hyuga was planning, but she suspected he had left her in the dark for a reason. Perhaps, she figured, it was because he needed an honest reaction out of her. Something that would allow her to sneak past everyone to take Himakai out of the small hall without arousing suspicion. Either that, or he hadn't actually come up with an idea when they parted early that morning.

"Hurry Neji." Tenten anxiously whispered, as she watched Himakai slowly approach the alter steps; her face, a mask of stoicism, though Tenten was certain, on the inside, her sisters heart was breaking. "Himakai." The young kunoichi mournfully whispered. "Why are you doing this?" She disbelievingly plead; wishing for once, Himakai could think of herself instead of others; but that just wasn't who her older sister was.

Time began to move impossibly slow, as Tenten watched her sister dutifully walk to the front of the room. A misty, glazed look in Himakai's eyes, as she turned slightly to face Tenten, at the moment she passed her by, told the younger kunoichi that her sister was probably trying her best to pretend she wasn't really there. Tenten could hardly blame her for that, but at the same time it seemed so unlike her.

Suddenly, a familiar shrill in the the air peeked the kunoichi's curiosity. "Huh?" Tenten turned her head sharply to the left; forgetting for a moment, about her sister's odd behavior. "It couldn't be..." She whispered; waiting for what she knew would come next.

KA-BOOM!

In the distance, a series of loud explosions made the small room jolt back and forth. The wedding guests leapt from their seats; hurriedly panicking around the hall. Instantly, Tenten rushed toward the alter to get to Himakai, but was stopped by the guards who had been standing at the front; protecting the bride and groom.

"That's my sister!" Tenten argued with the line of guards, standing at the bottom of the alert steps; preventing anyone from getting to the couple.

"Stay back!" One of the guards yelled at her.

She did as she was told. Not because she was afraid of the gargantuan samurai standing over her, but because she could sense something was amiss. What it was, however, she had no idea. But something inside of her told her that the bombing outside was not a part of Neji's plan. Earlier, he had shot down her idea to create an explosive distraction, so she knew this couldn't be his doing. He had also told her that the Rebels where not planning on attacking until the following day; and though she knew that Ijinu and the rest of their group were hardly the subtle type, it would surprise her greatly if the bombing outside was their doing.

No. There was definitely something wrong.

And just as Tenten was beginning to wonder what that could be, the air around her suddenly grew dense with static; a sign that there was imminent danger... "Ahaah!" A chill ran down her spine as everything suddenly seemed to move in slow motion again. Quickly, she turned around the room; scanning for anything that might be out of place, but she saw nothing. Turning back towards the front, Tenten stared at Himakai's back as the older kunoichi listlessly watched Lord Juushin talk to some guards.

And then Tenten saw it.

Out of the corner of her eye, a shadow moved from behind the billowy curtains surrounding the alter. It moved swiftly and a without noticed; and yet at the same time, it all seemed to happen so slowly, as the figure ran towards Himakai's back.

There was no time to response; no time to make it passed the the wall of samurai towards her sister, without revealing they were ninja; and it had not yet come to that.

"ONEE-CHAN!"(1) Tenten anxiously yelled out, to get her sister's attention.

And it worked. Himakai slowly turned to glance over her shoulder at Tenten; giving her a dull, yet still questioningly look. Tenten gestured for her to look behind her, but it was too late. Before Himakai could fully turn her body to face the feminine figure running towards her at full speed, a knife was pulled out of the stranger's wide sleeves and aimed toward the blue-eyed kunoichi's torso.

"Haah!" Tenten heard Himakai gasp, as she protectively wrapped her arms around herself.

Tenten was about to run towards her sister, hoping she could make it in time to stop the other woman from stabbing Himakai in a dangerously crucial spot, when suddenly a dark flash ran past her at lightning speed.

"DIE BITCH!" An angry growl yelled out, as a familiar figure stepped between the two women; stabbing the attacker through the heart.

"Ack." The women Tenten could now identify as the Sister she had seen the first night she and Himakai had arrived at the People's Palace, fell to the floor; a small tanto sword protruding from her bleeding chest.

"Ijinu!" Himakai gasped; suddenly pulled herself from her trance. A warm smile overcame her previously expressionless features, as looked up to face the man she loved.

"Hime..." He quickly turned around to face her; passionately throwing his arms around the blue-eyed kunoichi and bringing her into his chest. "Woman." He growled as he held her tightly. "You're the most reckless person I know." He groaned. "One of these days, you're going to kill me..."

"I'm sorry." Himakai apologetically whispered into the folds of Ijinu's thick cloak. "I was just-"

"I know what you were 'just'." Ijinu uncharacteristically cut her off. "But don't ever do it again." He growled; pulling her deeper into his arms.

"ehm" A polite cough interrupted the couple's tender reunion, as Lord Juushin stepped over toward where his bride was now standing in the arms of another man; a man who had unknowingly killed his mistress. "I hate to break up this tender moment." Lord Juushin arrogantly smirked. "But I believe that is _my_ bride, you are holding."

"Tch. You wish." Ijinu scoffed. "She's MY woman!" He furiously growled; protectively pulling Himakai behind him. "And you'll have her over MY DEAD BODY!" He roared.

"That _can_ be arranged." Lord Juushin smirked; nodding towards his armed guards, signaling for them to prepare to attack.

"Stay behind me." Ijinu quietly instructed Himakai, as he prepared himself for battle.

"Ha." Lord Juushin amusedly chuckled. "You're out number, boy." He calmly addressed the younger man. "There's only one of you, and at least thirty of my men, in this room alone."

"Fffh." Ijinu teasingly smirked. "You're right." He nodded. "It ain't fair at all." He continued smirking. "Maybe you should call some more..."

"You're that confident in your abilities are you?" Lord Juushin challenged.

"For the woman I love?" Ijinu confidently smirked; a glare of determination in his eyes as he faced the line of samurai now turned toward him. "I'd take down your whole army..."

"Love." Lord Juushin disgustedly spat the word. "Such a useless emotion." He sneered. "We'll see how far this love of yours takes you." Glaringly turning toward his men, he finally gave the order everyone had seen coming. "Kill him!"

What Lord Juushin, and the majority of those in the room, did _not_ see coming, however, was that as soon as the guards moved to attack Ijinu, five other shadows quickly jumped from within the crowd of guests; removing their cloaks, as they rushed over toward the wall of samurai.

"Haah!" Tenten gasped in surprise as she felt herself being pulled back; while Gai, Lee, Shikamaru, and Kiba defensively position themselves around Himakai and Ijinu.

"Tenten." Neji's reassuring voice whispered her name, as the two of them backed away from the samurai that had begun moving towards her.

"You made it." She threw her arms around him; thrilled at seeing him, as well as that fact that he kept his promise to help her prevent the wedding from taking place.

"Hai." He nodded; handing her a familiar pair of small scrolls as the two of them pulled apart.

"Perfect." She smiled gratefully as she prepared to unleash her barrage of weapons onto the enemy.

"Ready?" Neji asked, as he moved to stand behind her; their backs pressed up against each other.

"Oh yeah..." She smirked gleefully; adrenaline coursing through her at the prospects of their difficult battle. She always did love a challenge.

"Hn." His eyes smirked at her excitement, as the two fell into their battle stance.

Together, they faced a handful of gargantuan, seasoned warriors. The first samurai to come at them, moved stealthily toward the kunoichi; mistakingly believing her to be an easy target. In an instant, the guard realized how wrong his assessment was, as Tenten released her first wave of weapons, out of the tiny scrolls she had spent years training with. Meanwhile, Neji feinted forward; dropping into a crouch and sweeping one outstretched leg under another guard, before rushing straight for a third guard, and swiftly disarming him with his gentle fist fighting style. Behind him, Tenten continued with her weapons attack, as the others effectively fought off the rest of the guards.

Their fight went one for what seemed like hours, but in reality, could not have been more than a few seconds; minutes at most. In the confusion of battle, however, they had all been split up throughout the room as more and more guards entered the battle...

"ENOUGH!" A chillingly gravelly voice yelled out from the front of the room.

All eyes turned to face the Lord of the Palace, as he held the blue-eyed kunoichi at knife-point, at the top of the alter. The same bloody knife Ijinu had used to kill the Sister, was now resting threateningly over Himakai's throat.

"Nee-chan." Tenten painfully gasped as she looked upon the scene along with everyone else. She could see the annoyance in Himakai's eyes, at being caught off guard enough to be pulled into that situation. On the other side of the room, Tenten noticed Ijinu internally fighting with himself a bout what next to do. She could see in his eyes that he too was disappointed with himself that he had not been more alert; probably because he must have realized (just as Tenten did), that Himakai's reactions had been dulled as of late. Not surprising, considering what Neji had told her about Himakai's current condition...

"I admit," Lord Juushin addressed the crowd. "I am impressed by your abilities." He acknowledged. "Shinobi. I presume." He didn't wait for a response, as he pulled the knife closer toward Himakai's throat; his eyes glaring over at Ijinu, almost daring him to move forward. "You did well in hiring outsiders to guard you princess."

"Hehe." Himakai softly chuckled under the knife.

"Hn?" Lord Juushin stared down questioningly at the blue-eyed girl.

"You honestly believe that's it?" Himakai defiantly glared up at the green-haired man.

"What?" Lord Juushin questioned.

"Do you really think," Himakai calmly began. "That someone would go to the trouble of hiring shinobi guards, and then just hand over the heir?"

"What are you saying?" He curiously asked; his eyes threateningly glaring down at her as he waited for an explanation.

"Tell me," Himakai continued calmly; ignoring the older man's question. "Do you know how to identify the heir to the _true_ Dragon Lord?"

"Tch." Lord Juushin scoffed. "Of course." He moved his unarmed hand to push her hair off to the side; exposing the back of her neck.(2) "What?" He bewilderingly stared at her exposed neck; clearing having not found what he was looking for. "Where is it?" He demanded; pressing the blade of the tanto knife directly on blue-eyed woman's pale flesh, just enough to draw a small drop of blood.

"Hn." Despite the sting of the blade, Himakai satisfyingly smirked, but otherwise remained silent as the man behind her grew more and more angry as realization that he had been mistaken in believing she was the heir finally hit him.

"But you look just like her..." Lord Juushin disbelievingly stared down at the kunoichi.

"But I am not _his_ heir." She calmly replied; knowing it was unnecessary for her to specify who it was she was referring to. "But I know who is..." She added; mostly as an afterthought; realizing disclosing that she was not the true heir meant there was nothing preventing the fake lord from running the blade of his knife across her neck.

"WHO?!" He angrily demanded; his eyes raging with the fire of the demon that lived within him.

"Did you know," She continued as calmly as she had been up to that point; though a slight hint of fear lingered in the depths of her clear blue eyes. "There is something else that distinguishes the Dragon Lord's clan from any other clan?" Himakai paused; her eyes search out into the crowd of shinobi, samurai, and wedding guest. "The Hiryuu clan possess an ability that no one outside that clan has ever been able to master."(3)

"And what," Lord Juushin snidely began. "exactly, would that abil-ack"

"Hn." Himakai calmly step forward, as the hand holding the tanto knife to her neck went limp, and the man standing behind herself slowly fell back into the carpeted floor beneath them. "Perfect aim." She finished; turning back to see a shuriken and a small, curved, double-edged dagger embedded in the now deceased Lord Juushin's head.

"HIME!" Ijinu rushed to her side; having gone nearly insane at holding himself back from jumping in and rescuing her.

"Ijinu..." She sighed as she fell into his arms; her body going limp as the fear she'd been holding back finally took over.

"Shit." Ijinu wrapped his arms around her; trembling as much as she was. "That one really nearly _did_ kill me." He groaned softly into her hair.

"Sorry." She whispered back; apologizing to him for the second time since their reunion. "Thank you for trusting me." She quietly added; grateful that the feral-eyed man had picked up her signal to stay back while she did what she had to.

"Hn." He reluctantly grunted, before turning back up to where the rest of their team had already disarmed and disabled the rest of the samurai guards. "It's time to go." He told the others.

"Not quite yet..." Himakai pulled away; turning to the crowd of confused and frightened wedding guest. Quickly, she pulled the knife out of the dead Lord Juushin's head, while discreetly taking and hiding the shuriken lodged in the man temple, and again turned to face the crowd of bystanders. "Now..." She walked towards the crowd. "Come out already." She waved the knife towards the crowd. "Haku..."

"Hahaha." A deep chuckle from the crowd altered all the other shinobi to the tall figure crouching near the corner of the room. "You never were easy to trick, were you, Maki?" The figure stood, removing a thick black cloak, similar to the one the shinobi team had been wearing, and began walking out of the crowd.

"I knew it." Himakai walked over to the familiar man; the bloody knife held in her left hand. "Captain Hakumi." She glared at him. Then, without warning, the blue-eyed kunoichi quickly pulled back her right fist and slammed it fiercely into his jaw with all her strength. "BASTARD!" She yelled as her fist made contact with the Captain's face.

"Agh!" He fell back a few steps; his hand at his jaw, where her fist had collided with his face. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Captain Hakumi angrily demanded.

"FOR THAT PHONEY MISSION THAT GOT US INTO THIS TROUBLE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Himakai yelled back.

"What?!" Captain Hakumi shouted back; confused as to what she was referring to. "It wasn't me!" He denied, upon realizing what she meant. "I didn't even know you were still alive!" He added, while rubbing the bruise quickly forming on his face.

"If it wasn't you..." Himakai disbelievingly began, "then who?"

"I believe I can answer that." An unfamiliar female voice called out from the crowd. Everyone turned to face the elderly woman stepping out of the crowd, as she and a small group of women, all dressed in typical priestess robes, walked over to the group of shinobi and pirate captain. "My name is Sister Rouba."(4) The old woman introduced herself. "I ordered the mission." She informed them.

"You?" Himakai disbelievingly gasped. "Then..."

"That's right." Sister Rouba nodded. "The Sisterhood has known for a long time that you, the daughter of our former High Priestess." She paused; lowing her head to chant a whispered prayer along with the other Sisters. "We knew that you had escaped on that fateful night, and that you have settled within in a hidden village."

"You... you knew?" Himakai desperately looked back and forth between Ijinu, Tenten, and Captain Hakumi. She had been hoping the Sisterhood had not known of her and Tenten's escape. She hoped for it because she knew what the result would be if the Sisterhood knew and either of them ever ended up back in Gesshoku...

"We knew." Sister Rouba nodded. "Just as we knew that the heir would arrive by ship one week ago."

"The heir..." Himakai whispered under her breath; a thought beginning to form as she clenched the small dagger in her left hand. "That's right!" She exclaimed; turning to Ijinu to signal for him to stand in front of Tenten; hopeful that the fact that they hadn't mentioned the princess meant they didn't know about her. "And I can tell you exactly who that is." She repeated her earlier statement to Lord Juushin.

"I believe we already know." The elder Sister turned to where Ijinu was blocking the bun-haired kunoichi.

"No you don't." Himakai yelled out; distracting the old woman before she could have a good look at Tenten. "There was a prophecy." She reminded them of the rumor over the last few days.

"There was." Sister Rouba acknowledged.

"The imposter lords rule shall end at the hands of the true heir." Himakai echoed the final words of her mother as she brought the bloody dagger in her hand up for all to see. "The weapon that saved my life; and killed the Fake." She handed the dagger over to the Sister. "Perfectly aimed to hit it's target, like only one of Hiryuu blood could do." She turned to her left; her eyes landing on the man who owned that knife. "Eldest child on the Dragon Lord." She paused; extending her hand. "Hiryuu Hakumi" She finished, just as the bandana-wearing Captain reached over to take her outstretched hand. "My brother."

"Brother?!" Ijinu's disbelieving voice echoed through the hall as he stepped forward.

"Hai." Hakumi nodded; a teasing smirk on his face as he noted the look of relief washing over the other man as this new piece of information settled in his mind. "Lord Juushin was half right when he deduced the Dragon Lord and his High Priestess had been lovers." He acknowledged.

"He just guessed wrong about who the heir on the ship was." Himakai added from besides her elder brother.

"Ehm." The elder Sister coughed to call back their attention. "Is there any proof of this?" She eyed the two suspiciously; her mind battling over whether or not to believe that the green-eyed man was in fact son of the High Priestess and former Dragon Lord.

"Show her." Himakai nodded towards the Captain, who immediately turned around and moved aside the sort ponytail that covered the back of his neck.

"Haah." The Sisters all gasped in unison, upon seeing the well defined serpent-like dragon birthmark running across the back of the Captain's neck; the same birthmark Tenten's long hair now covered as her hair rested comfortable out of her trademark buns, just as Himakai had been instructing her to do for the last week.

"A son..." Sister Rouba said in awe.

"An heir." Himakai corrected. "The rightful heir." She nodded towards the dagger the elder woman still held in her hands.

"This is..." Sister Rouba shook her head disbelievingly.

"This is wonderful." One of the other Sister's spoke from behind the elder.

"That's right." Another Sister quickly agreed. "We've not only brought back our new High Priestess, but we've also found our new Dragon Lord." She started in awe.

"Wait, what?!" Himakai, Ijinu, Tenten, and Captain Hakumi all yelled out in unison; the four of them being the only ones in their group who fully knew of Himakai's linage, and could thus understand the implication in the Sister's statement.

"But you already have a Seer." Himakai desperately argued. She knew she was right, because otherwise how else would they have known about her? How else would they have been able to know about her team's arrival at King's Port?

Turning toward the corpse of the Sister Ijinu had killed to protect her, Himakai briefly wondered if perhaps that had been their Seer; but it seemed unlikely. No Sister would kill another Sister; that one had to have been a traitor...

"That is true." Sister Rouba acknowledged. "But she is not of Getsuei blood."(5) She informed them. Referring to the fact that, though most Sisters came from within the clan, there were a few who occasional developed outside of the clan and were brought in due to their abilities. "Only one of Getsuei blood can be High Priestess to the Sisterhood of the Moon."

"But..." Himakai began to protest, but stopped herself; reluctantly aware that she had no choice. The Sisterhood was the Sisterhood. And those born to the Sisterhood were bound to it forever. As much as it pained her to admit it...

"NO!" Ijinu stepped forth; blocking Himakai from the Sisters field of vision. "I won't allow it!" He barked. "I won't let you have her!" He growlingly declared to the small group of women.

"I'm afraid this is not up for discussion." Sister Rouba defiantly glared back at the intimidating man. "She is of Getsuei blood. Born to the Sisterhood, and forever bound to it." She voiced the same words Himakai had, only moments earlier, resigned herself to.

"I don't give a fuck!" Ijinu cursed. "She's _my_ woman." He growled. "The mother of my unborn child. And I won't let either of them go without a fight."

"Child?" Sister Rouba repeated; a pensive look momentarily crossing her features as she looked over at stunned and motionless Himakai. "Well," She looked back to face Ijinu. "You seem strong enough." She appraised the feral-eyed man. "With any luck your daughter will-"

"It's not a girl." A voice from behind the elder Sister cut her off.

"A boy?" Sister Rouba turned to face the younger Sister who walked out from behind the other Sisters. "No matter." She turned back to face the shinobi. "Sister Himakai is still young. She can give birth to a daughter of Sisterhood."

"Like Hell she will!" Ijinu furiously barked.

"Twins." A soft, whisper escaped the blue-eyed kunoichi, as all her symptoms suddenly began making sense to her.

"What?" Ijinu and Sister Rouba turned toward Himakai; momentarily ending their argument as they waited for her to continue.

"Twins." She repeated; a swell of emotion, for reasons only she and the priestesses of Sisterhood could understand, began building up in the blue-eyed woman's chest, preventing her from speaking further.

"You knew?" Ijinu smiled down joyfully at the kunoichi.

"No." Himakai mouthed; slowly shaking her head in response. "But it makes sense..." She quietly whispered.

"Twins..." Sister Rouba repeated solemnly.

"What of it?" Ijinu challengingly glared at the older woman; bringing his arms protectively around the woman his loved, effectively expressing that he would not be handing her over without a fight.

"Sister Ensha."(6) The elder Sister called out to the one who had spoken earlier.

"Yes?" A young, brown haired, hazel-eyed Sister, dressed in all-white Priestess robes, stepped forward.

"Is it so?" Sister Rouba questioned the younger Priestess.

"Hai." Sister Ensha nodded as she looked over the crowd of shinobi; a slight glimmer in her eyes, as she lingeringly glanced over at that pirate captain, betrayed to the most observant of the group, what the other Sisters had probably not yet realized.(7) "Twin boys." She elaborated.

"Haah." A gasp ran through the Sisters, as all eyes fall back on Himakai and Ijinu.

"What?" Ijinu quickly whispered down to the blue-eyed kunoichi.

"I'll explain later." She whispered back; a bright smile threatening to reveal how thrilled she was that her guess had been correct.

Twins.

In the Sisterhood, twins were a bad omen. Twin boys were especially ominous. It was a misfortune to give birth to boys within the Sisterhood, as they were of little use to the clan; often being sent away to labor in various apprenticeships; never again to be seen by their heartbroken mothers. But to give birth to a pair of twin boys, was considered far worse. They not only predicted changes of the most uncertain kind, but they stole away the mother's abilities; essentially rendering her useless to the Sisterhood.

Knowing that she was pregnant, though surprising to say the least, was the greatest thing Himakai had ever heard. Yes, she would be losing her identity; be stripped of her clan name. But it didn't matter.

She was free...

"Free." She turned to Ijinu; burying her smiling face in his chest. For the first time in her life, she felt light and happy.

A tiny pressure, the size of a small stone, in the center of her chest dug into her flesh as Himakai allowed herself to be tightly embraced by the man she loved. For the briefest moment she wondered if her mother had known this would happen...

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Thank you." Himakai tightly embraced the, now elegantly dressed, former-pirate. "Haku." She lovingly ran her fingers along the fine needle-work on her brother's Dragon Lord robes. "It suits you." She smiled up at him.

"You think so?" Hakumi proudly smiled down; already used to the idea of being the new Dragon Lord, despite the fact that his introduction to the people of Gesshoku, during the last day of the Dragon Moon Festival, had only been a day earlier. There was still much to take care of in the country; like putting an end to the years of internal conflicts and rebel factions that would need to be brought to line. It was a challeng, though, that Himakai was more than certain her elder brother would be capable of handling; especially given she was sure he had a certain clairvoyant Sister on his side...

"I'm sure of it." She reassuringly smiled, before giving him another hug, then stepping back to allow their younger sister to say goodbye to the brother she only just met.

"Ah..." Tenten nervously fidgeted; unsure of what to say or do. This man, who she had only briefly met a few days earlier, but whom she shared a bloodline with, had not only saved her and her sister's lives, but had made it possible for both of them to return home; to the lives they knew and the people they loved... "Thank you." She timidly whispered, as she peered up to the older man.

"Haha." Hakumi chuckled warmly; bringing his arms tightly around the bun-haired kunoichi and lifting her up in a crushing embrace that even rivaled any her hug-loving sensei had ever given her. "You're so cute Tenten-chan." He smiled down at the kunoichi after releasing her from his tight embrace. "Even cuter than the time Maki took me to see you for the first time." He added, as he fiddled with something in his pocket. "Here." He roughly pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to the younger girl.

"..." Tenten eyed the small objected in her hand. It was a thin, knotted rope running through a hole in three small shells. Each shell had a different color sea-glass wired into it; a blue one, a red one, and a white one. Though it was simple and crude, it was also in a way very pretty. "It's just like Himakai's" She said in awe.

"Yeah." He smirked, showing her his wrist, where his own crude bracelet stood in sharp contrast to the fine silk robes he now wore. "It's a link to tie us all together." He explained, as he slowly began fastening the bracelet around her slender wrist. "Though we may be separated by circumstances beyond our control... the three of us," He paused; running his finger over the colored sea-glass that were meant to represent the three siblings. "We're always united in spirit." He concluded, before slowly bending down to plant a chase kiss on the blushing kunoichi's forehead. "You two!" He straightened himself as he pointed menacingly at the two men standing directly in behind the two kunoichi.

"Hn." The Hyuga and Ijinu expectantly stared back at the older man.

"Make sure my sisters are happy, or I'll come find you!" He threatened.

"Hn." Neji grunted; turning away slightly, to try and hide his rising blush at the snickering and inquisitive reactions from the four other shinobi standing next to him.

"You don't gotta worry about that." Ijinu stepped forward; wrapping his arms lovingly around his beloved Himakai. "Just make sure you make it to Konoha for the birth of our pups." He smirked down at the kunoichi, whose face immediately went beet red. "And for our wedding." His smirk grew wider as she turned up to face him curiously. "What?" He stared back at her. "You need a new name now, don't'cha?" He teasingly smirked. "Might as well make it mine..."

"Haha." She smiled back at him. "Inuzuka Himakai." She tired the name out. "I like it."

"Good." He leaned down; swiftly capturing her lips with his in response.

After a few more quick hugs, and promises to visit each other, the three siblings said one last goodbye to one another; parting ways, for who knew how long...

But unbeknownst to all, in another place and time, a pair of brilliant green eyes watched over the scene from the distant past...

_.:..:..:..:..:.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:._

"_Haah." The woman jolted upright in bed._

"_Bad dream?" The unruly-haired man laying next to her, rose up to face the green-eyed priestess; concern etched in his features as he watched her rise to her feet, walking over to the dresser where her favorite emerald pendant hung off the small jewelery stand._

"_No." The Priestess shook her head slowly; her right hand gently tracing the nearly visible bump in her abdomen. "It was a good dream." She turned and smiled back at the brown-haired man who was beckoning her back to his arms._

"_What was it about?" He asked curiously._

"_It was the ending of the legend of Ooroza, Yomi, and Enkai."(8) She calmly replied; slowly moving back towards her lover._

"_Huh?" The man cocked his head to the side; looking over at her in confusion. "I thought that legend had no ending." He questioned. "Isn't that why there's so many versions?"_

"_No, it doesn't." She nodded in agreement. "Not yet at least..." She added; smiling down bitter-sweetly, as she continued to rub the growing belly where her first born child was only beginning to form. _

"_Hn." The man looked up at the priestess, as the full-moon's rays glowed around her. "I hope it's a happy ending." He whisperingly wished, before pulling the green-eyed woman back into his arms._

"_mhm." She allowed herself to be pulled down; her lips lightly brushing against the lips of the man she loved; the Dragon Lord himself. "I think it's a good ending..."_

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**_**THE END  
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FOOTNOTES:   
(1) I would hope everyone knows that Oneechan means sister, but, for those that don't...  
(2) He's checking her neck for a certain birthmark I mentioned in a pervious chapter...  
(3) For those who have forgotten Hiryuu means FLYING DRAGON; It's the Dragon Lord's clan.  
(4) Rouba just means Old Woman.  
(5) Again, for those who may have forgotten, Getsuei means MOON; It's Sisterhood's clan.  
(6) Ensha is short for Yogensha means "Prophet" or Senkensha which means "Seer"; She's the Seer of the Sisterhood.  
(7) This might be too subtle for anyone but me to even know what it means, but essentially, it's referring to the fact that Sister Ensha was the "inside man" for the Rebels; and it hints at a possible relationship between her and Captain Hakumi... history repeating itself ;P  
(8) Oozora, Yomi, and Enaki are the three gods from the Legend of the Dragon Moon (chapter 14).

**A/N**: There is ONE MORE Chapter to this story... the EPILOGUE!!! So don't think it's over yet...


	26. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all Naruto related stuff is (c) Masashi Kishimoto. All OCs and original storyline/plot/imagination (c) of ME!!!!!

**A/N**: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ALL FOR READING AND REVIEWING THIS STORY, I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS FINAL CHAPTER.

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**_**EPILOGUE****  
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A light rain fell softly on the ground as the two lovers sat quietly under the large umbrella he had had the foresight to bring along. The winter months were fast approaching, but it was still relatively warm in the Hidden Leaf Village; perfect for a nice hillside picnic. It had been sunny and warm at the beginning of their date, but as evening fast approached, the white clouds had turned gray, and the young couple had had to seek shelter under the discarded umbrella that had been tucked away, behind a nearby tree, when first they arrived to set up the checkered blanket and small wicker basket on the grassy hillside.

The rain had darkened the sky and deepened the usually soft colors of the setting sun. The light reds, oranges, yellows, pinks and purples had turned deep and dark; but nonetheless, it did not discourage the two lovers' peaceful date; nor had it made the sunset any less beautiful in their eyes.

"Tenten." Neji whispered her name, as he bent down to kiss the rise of her collarbone, while the two of them looked out into the crimson horizon. "I love you." He murmured, as he kissed his way around to the nape of her neck; her breathing slowly growing shallower with each light, feathery kiss that touched her flesh. "I love you." He repeated; kissing the corner where her jaw met her neck. "I love you." He once more repeated; kissing his way along the ridge of her jaw line towards her chin. "I love you." He lightly brushed his lips on her chin as he whispered those three delicate words; moving his mouth up to linger by her lips, but never quite touching them. "I love you." His repeated again as he continued along the edge of her jawline; purposefully kissing away from her lips. "..." A small smile momentarily interrupted the onslaught of kisses, as he smirked at the whimper she let out when he moved away from her lips. "I love you." He brushed the side of her cheek with tiny little pecks as he moved up to her forehead. "I love you." He kissed the center of her brow. "I love you." He repeated; kissing down the bridge of her nose. "I love you." He breathily whispered; arriving at the tip of her nose; her cute, tiny nose... "I love you." He lustfully groaned as his mouth hovered over the kunoichi's plump and inviting lips; his breath caught in his throat as he looked deep into her longing eyes.

Oh how he loved her.

He loved her more than the words he kept repeating over and over; he loved her like he could never quite express, but nonetheless tried.

Eight months earlier, when he thought he had lost her, Neji had learned how important it was to never hold back. He loved her, and since their return from the Kingdom of Gesshoku he vowed to himself he would never let her forget it; never let her doubt it. He would tell her every day, for the rest of their lives, just how much she meant to him.

"I love you." He longingly whispered once more, before finally bringing his lips down to meet hers, and ending the torment his teasing kisses had built up in the both of them.

Hungrily, their lips met in a long passionate kiss, as he pulled her tightly to him. Adrenaline rushed though his body like a flooding river; his heart beating painfully fast as he hungrily and possessively devoured her mouth with his. He wasn't about to let her go, not now, not ever.

"I love you too, Neji." She said between breaths after he finally released her lips.

"Hn." He smiled contently; tightly, and lovingly, wrapping his arms around Tenten.

He felt so lucky to have her...

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Ijinu!" A very pregnant Himakai stared at her feral-eyed husband with a disapproving scowl on her face. "Just stop." She commanded. "Sit!" She patted the seat next to her on the couch.

"Fine." Reluctantly, Ijinu put down the crib he'd been trying to assemble and walked over to where his beautiful wife was sitting and talking with their newly arrived houseguests.

"Wow." Hana approvingly smiled as she watched her older brother walk mopingly over to the living room; like a dog with it's tail between it's legs. "He's like a trained puppy." She smirkingly teased her older brother, from besides their mother.

"Shut up." Ijinu growled; glaring at the younger woman.

"Hahaha." Tsume bellowed loudly as her two elder children glared at one another. "Exactly like his father." She winked at the blue-eyed kunoichi. "Inuzuka men are house broken earlier!" She snickered. "As soon as they sniff out their mate, they become completely docile."

"Hehe." Himakai giggled at the blush the feral eyed man tried to conceal as he turned his eyes back to the unfinished crib her brother, the former-Captain Hakumi, had sent from his new Kingdom of Gesshoku, a few days earlier, with the promise that he would soon be arriving to pay them a visit for the first time since their wedding just a couple of months earlier.

"Hahaha!" Hana hollered uncontrollably. "That means Iji-kun's been house broken since he was a toddler!" She teased; well aware that her big brother had been in love with the blue-eyed kunoichi since he first met her when the two of them were no more than eight years old.

"Oi!" Ijinu barked; jumping to his feet to come closer toward her. "At least I've got a mate!" He growled. "At the rate you're going, Hana-chan, you're liable to end up an old spinster!"

"Oi!" Hana angrily glared at her brother. "I'll have you know, I've got plenty of suitors!" She indignantly yelled back.

"Oh yeah?!" Ijinu tauntingly smirked; knowing he had hit a nerve. "The four-legged kind don't cou-"

"HEY!' A loud shout at the entrance of the small house, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut, interrupted the bickering siblings. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" An enthusiastic Kiba ran into the room; waving a piece of paper back and forth as he rushed over to where the rest of them were sitting. "Guess what?!" He exclaimed as he came to a stop in front of where Ijinu had, moments earlier, discarded the unfinished baby crib.

"You got your results for the Jounin selections." Ijinu dryly responded, before turning back to take his seat next to Himakai again.

"And you passed." Hana added in an equally disinterested tone; leaning back into the couch next to her mother, directly opposite from her brother and new sister-in-law.

"fhm." Kiba pouted, as he took a seat on the opposite side of his mother; her previous enthusiasm completely drained from him. "You guys are no fun." He moped.

"hehe." Himakai amusedly giggled at the interaction between the three siblings. "Congratulations Kiba-kun." She smiled at the younger boy. "You deserve it." She added; knowing he had worked long and hard; training with Ijinu for months, after their detour in Gesshoku had caused him to miss the previous exams.

"Tch." Ijinu scoffed from besides the blue-eyed woman. "Of course you'd pass, runt!" He spat. "_I_ trained you!"

"Yeah, well I did-" Kiba abruptly stopped; turning to his brother. "Wait!" He jumped to his feet. "Are you implying I wouldn't have passed if wasn't for you?!"

"Tsk!" Ijinu snickingly scoffed. "Yeah, what of it?"

"You self-centered, violent, ill-tempered, sadistic..."

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

"Eehehe." Tenten giggled as she felt the warm breath of the man she loved, blowing softly against her ear.

It still amazed her how much everything had changed in such a short amount of time. The stoic prince that rarely showed any emotion at all, had, over the course of a few months, turned into an affectionate, and somewhat touchy-feely, lover; who never failed to show her how much he cared. Though he remained the ever serious shinobi amongst friends and others, when it was just the two of them, it was almost as if he were a different man entirely. He would hold her, and kiss her, and tell her he loved her, with such passion and heat, it seemed almost impossible to fathom that this was the same man who was well known for his icy facade.

Their relationship had progressed a lot during those months as well. Though their displays of affection remained private, it was common knowledge throughout the village that the two of them were dating. In was also rumored, that soon they'd be following in her sister's footsteps, and walking down the aisle as well. Of course, that was still just a rumor; Neji had yet to ask her, and besides that, it was still much too soon and they were still much too young. Just the same, it made her happy to think that maybe one day they just might...

It also seemed to make the Hyugas quite happy as well; which initially surprised Tenten because she had always imagined that they would be much more strict about who their genius prodigy might end up marrying. But, from the many occasions in which Hyuga Hiashi himself, had hinted at the fact that the elders seemed more than eager to invite the weapon's mistress into their clan, as well as a recent conversation with Hinata and Hanabi, during a surprise invitation to lunch, that seemed to confirm that fact, Tenten was more that certain the Hyugas accepted her and Neji's relationship.

As for Neji, his acceptance as Tenten's possible future groom seemed only a little less promising. Though Himakai found him acceptable, Ijinu still growled at him whenever he came to pick up his 'precious sister-in-law' at their new, bigger, house. Hakumi had also taken to joining Ijinu in threateningly glaring at the Hyuga whenever he came by the village. It was disheartening to think they might oppose, but really Tenten was fairly certain both men actually liked Neji; they just seemed to enjoy torturing him as well...

"Eheheh." Tenten continued giggling as the Hyuga began nuzzling his nose on her neck. "Neji..." She squealed with delight when his lips touched her flesh.

"Hn." He grunted happily; nibbling down the side of her neck, to her collarbone.

""Ehm" A polite cough interrupted the couple's romantic moment.

"Haah!" Tenten gasped; looking up to see the blushing face of a certain feral-eyed boy who was busy trying hard not to look at the two lovers as they straightened up their appearance.

"Sorry to interrupt." Kiba bashfully scratched the back of his unruly mane. "But eh..." He slowly turned back to face the two older shinobi.

"What is it?" Neji growled unapologetically as he glared at the younger man.

"Ahh..." Kiba tried to avoid their eyes as he continued struggling in delivering his message. "Everyone's at the hospital... and they sent me here to get Tenten..."

"Haah!" Tenten gasped again as realization of what the younger Inuzuka brother was trying to say, hit her. "We've gotta go!" She exclaimed; turning to Neji, who had already finished picking up their more important items.

"Let's go." He nodded, before the three of them jumped up into the trees; swiftly dashing toward Konoha General.

With lightning speed, the three shinobi raced through the forest, and straight towards the village Hospital; into the hallway where the Inuzuka clan, as well as Hakumi and his high priestess, had already arrived and were patiently waiting outside the delivery room.

"AHHHH!!!!" A painful scream pierced the air, as the double doors to the delivery room were pushed open and a mortified man stumbled out. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" The screaming voice yelled after, from the other side of the doors, as a cowering Ijinu turned, confused, to face the small crowed gathered outside the doors.

"Hahaha." Tsume laughed at her son's terrified expression. "Get back in there!" She ordered between laughter, as the wild-looking woman helped the man up and began pushing him over towards the doors he'd just fall out of.

"..."As his mother pushed him closer toward the other room, Ijinu turned toward where Hakumi and his priestess were standing; amusedly watching the younger man in his state of panic. "You sure twins make her lose her abilities?" He asked the green-eyed man. "Cos I've seen her use her healing powers, and I know they work both ways." He nervously added; referring to the fact that the blue-eyed woman's ability to heal was also the ability to 'un-heal', and thus could kill a man with a single touch of her hands.

"Is big bad bwother Ijinu is scared of a wittle girl?" Hana tauntingly teased her older brother.(1)

"Oi." Ijinu glared back at the younger woman. "You ain't never seen this woman mad before." He warned.

"If she's anything like our mother..." Hakumi began from besides the fang-faced kunoichi.

"Hell hath no fury..." High Priestess Ensha whispered from besides her lover; having heard the rumors of the Legendary Demon Priestess of Gesshoku. (2)

Just then, a loud and painful scream in the operating room echoed passed the doors.

"It's still probably better if you went back in there." Tenten tried to smile encouragingly at her cowering brother-in-law; she knew, just as he did, it was true that as sweet and calm as Himakai regularly appeared before most people, when it came down to it, no one was as scary as she was when she got mad...

"Yeah." Ijinu defeatedly nodded; knowing full well, that it was safer to risk being killed by her now, than to not be in there with her and have the woman mad at him later... "Okay." He inhaled deeply; preparing himself to reenter the delivery room.

"Good luck!" Tenten earnestly smiled back.

"AHHHH!" Another scream resonated in the hall as feral-eyed man walked through the doors.

Tenten worriedly glanced over at Neji, who quickly took her hand and squeezed reassuringly.

"I HATE YOU!" Himakai's voice strongly yelled out from the other side of the doors. "Don't go!" She emotionally added a second later.

"I'm here." Ijinu's voice could barely be heard through the painful moans and grunts of his wife as she pushed through the pain.

"WAAAAAHHHH!" A loud cry from a baby silenced the screams, followed shortly after by a second near-identical cry.

"Haa." Tenten sighed, relieved; feeling Neji's hand give hers another encouraging squeeze. "Hehe." She smiled as she gazed around the room. "Family..." She quietly whispered to herself, before turning to grin widely at the white-eyed man who smiled back warmly.

Her family...

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**_**FIN****  
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FOOTNOTES:  
(1) "Is big bad brother Ijinu scared of a little girl"... Hana is baby-talking to tease him more.  
(2) Just a reminder... Ensha is the Sister mentioned in the previous chapter. Oh and the Legendary Demon Priestess thing was just something to throw in... I figure Himakai and Hakumi's mother would be very strict and thus demon-like ;P

**A/N**: I'm not so sure about the LAST scene, but eh, over all I do like it... and I didn't really know what else to do... Anyway... I just wanted to add, the only really big loose end that I never got to explain (and I tried to fit it in, but couldn't) was the dream stuff... All the dreams Himakai had were the REASON she decided to marry Juushin, because she thought they meant that she had to marry him to save Tenten... but of course, being pregnant made her visions all wonky... anyway... that's it... OH... and I forgot to finally say... HAKU means ELDER BROTHER... hehhe.. that's why I never told you all what Hakumi's name meant.

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**THANK YOU!**

Well that's it!... the end of the story. I hope you all enjoyed it... thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and faved and supported me throughout the story... I'm really glad you all enjoyed UNDER THE DRAGON MOON and I'm grateful for all of your support.

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**UPCOMING PROJECTS**

I've got number of stories I'm going to be starting soon... including the multi-chapter story about Koudo, as well as another mult-chapter story about Tenten and 4 older brothers... and a Gaara-Tenten-Neji story that should be a lot of fun.... and a bunch of other oneshots.

**Another thing I want to mention is that on deviantart. com fmorgana and I started a fanfic writing club on deviant art... the link to it is in my profile. If anyone wants to join, please do ;)**


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